Of Blood and Oil (Of Flesh and Metal Vol II)
by kanonkita
Summary: After suffering every human ailment imaginable, from physical illness to sexual attraction, Megatron et al are finally headed to America to find the Allspark and regain their Cybertronian forms. The Decepticon Empire will rise again! There's just the little matter of a promise Megatron made to a god, a Seeker he doesn't know how to love, and a brother he'd rather forget.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

It wasn't that there was nothing outside of Patna, but in the dark of night, there may as well have been. The headlights of the Decepticons' stolen car illuminated the road up to several hundred feet in front of them and little else, so that all Megatron knew of their surroundings was a vague sense of land extending endlessly on either side and the occasional pocket of lights to indicate some small settlement or a service station. In a way, it reminded him of deep space travel.

They'd been driving for almost four hours now, the little clock set into the dash ticking away the minutes at an almost painful rate. The first two hours or so had been eventful enough with Rumble and Frenzy doing their level best to drive everyone else insane and Skywarp and Thundercracker both discovering that they suffered from motion sickness. (Megatron wasn't entirely convinced that Starscream didn't also. The Seeker hadn't had to throw up on the side of the road like his brothers, but he'd certainly kept his mouth shut a suspicious amount since they'd left the city.) But now the car was silent.

In the rear view mirror, Megatron could see his soldiers bunched in the back seat, Skywarp and Thundercracker huddled together miserably while the twins spilled out of their creator's lap beside them. Soundwave was the only one still awake, his hand stroking one of the boys' hair absently as he stared out the window at the passing darkness.

Starscream had been the first to pass out, his head lolling pathetically on his cousin's shoulder, and the two of them were now snoring in sync in the passenger seat. Megatron reached over to brush a hand across Starscream's forehead every now and then. He was fairly certain his former SIC had been running a fever since before they'd gotten to the gang hideout that afternoon, and he kept debating if it was worth waking him up and making him take something for it.

If only they had something they could give his brothers to stop them getting sick... At least they seemed to be sleeping well enough.

"Lord Megatron?"

The ex-warlord shook himself from the stupor that miles and miles of silent, dark highway had inflicted upon him and hummed in acknowledgment of Soundwave's voice—the first he'd heard in well over an hour now.

"The vehicle requires fuel," Soundwave explained, reaching around the driver's seat and one of his twins to indicate a dial on the dash that Megatron had noticed creeping further and further into its red shaded area as they drove. "The upcoming lights may be another service station."

Megatron nodded in understanding, and when the road branched a moment later, he guided the car off toward a small, weather battered store and a collection of gasoline pumps.

Light flooded the car from the overhead lamps as they pulled into the station, and some of the car's other occupants began to stir when they pulled to a halt beside one of the pumps. Megatron glanced at the two Seekers curled in the passenger seat as he cut the engine and removed the key. Slipstream had lifted her head to blink around in confusion, but Starscream only continued to breathe deep and even against her. Eager to complete their errand before that changed, Megatron climbed quickly from the vehicle and began searching for its mouth.

"It isn't Cybertronian," Soundwave reminded him as he extricated himself from his sleeping creations to come and join his leader.

"I am aware," Megatron snapped back, and straightened up from where he'd been trying to peek under the front of the car.

Soundwave was already dragging the nozzle from the gasoline pump over to a small hatch on the side of the car. Too tired to bother feigning competence at the moment, Megatron rolled his eyes and moved to retrieve some of their cash supply from the trunk instead. As much as it pained him to have to pay for human services, he'd prefer not to attract anymore attention from human authorities.

He popped the trunk and was just about to lift it when Soundwave's hand slammed down on top. Megatron's head snapped up, ready to berate his second-in-command, when he saw the hints of uncertainty and even fear in the other man's face.

"What?" he demanded.

"It's... I was... It's not..." Soundwave stammered, avoiding Megatron's gaze.

And then, something thumped against the trunk from the inside.

Megatron wasn't sure what he was expecting when he wrenched it open, but it was not the snarling bundle of teeth, spit and fur that came hurtling toward him. On instinct, the ex-warlord jumped back and made to strike the creature before it could reach him, only for Soundwave to snatch it away before he could.

There were several frantic yelps, followed by a hiss of pain from Soundwave, and then a pitiful whimpering sound that put Megatron in mind of Skywarp when he was scared. Megatron forced himself to stop staring dumbstruck at the open car trunk and turned instead to where Soundwave was now crouched on the ground, making hushing sounds and cradling the thing that had leapt from the trunk in one arm, while he held his other hand aloft, dripping blood from what was obviously a bite mark.

"The dog," Megatron stated blankly.

Soundwave didn't look up.

"I told you," his commander began to growl, his gaze fixed on the dark blood now splacking onto the pavement below, "to kill that thing. I told you I never wanted to see it again!"

"My apologies, Lord Megatron," Soundwave murmured, still not looking at him.

"You yourself said that dogs are dangerous!" Megatron found himself bellowing now. "And look what it's done to you! Soundwave, I swear, if you do not throw that thing away this instant, I'll—"

"She reminds me of Ravage."

Soundwave's voice was quiet still, but it stopped Megatron's tirade in its tracks. He found himself staring down at the top of his second's head with his thoughts spinning in circles as the blood continued to drip and the dog continued to whine in Soundwave's lap.

"She is only young," Soundwave continued. "And she was scared to be in an unfamiliar place. I can only comfort her so much."

"You cannot keep vermin as a pet! Particularly not vermin that is capable of causing such injuries!" Megatron hissed in frustration, watching as the creature started climbing up Soundwave to lick his face. The intelligence officer finally looked up when she shoved her nose under his chin.

"She is not vermin," he replied calmly, still cradling it like one of his own creations. "And dogs do not bite when properly trained and cared for. As I said, she was simply scared. It was my own fault for locking her in there."

"Why did you bother? Did you think you could keep it hidden from me?"

"I... do not know," Soundwave confessed.

Megatron closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh. Clearly, the creature meant a great deal to Soundwave if he had taken such an uncharacteristic risk, and Megatron had taken too much already that Soundwave held dear.

"Fine," he snapped. "Keep it for now. Think of it as a reward for your competence if you will, but if it attacks _anyone else_, it's gone!"

_If it bites Starscream, I'll kill it myself_, he added mentally as Soundwave stared up at him in amazement.

"And it stays in the trunk," he added out loud. "I don't care how frightened it is, I'm not listening to Starscream and Skywarp shriek about it the rest of the way."

"Of course, my Lord," Soundwave agreed hastily.

Megatron turned back to the car to find the money for the gas before he could start regretting his decision.

"I will need to wash and dress the wound," Soundwave spoke as he climbed to his feet once more, "but when I return, I believe it would be advisable for you to take a rest, Lord Megatron. I will continue to drive to our destination until morning. If you wish."

Loathe as he was to relinquish control, Megatron felt all the stress of the day wash over him the moment Soundwave mentioned rest. If he got back behind the wheel now, he knew he was liable to nod off over it and send them all careening into a ditch somewhere. Far from the noble end he'd envisioned for his Decepticons.

"That would be appreciated," he finally confessed.

But there was no way he was sitting in the back with the twins.

After he'd finished paying for the fuel and assisted Soundwave in wrapping a bandage around his hand, Megatron made his way around to the passenger side of the car.

"What's all the shouting about?" Slipstream grumbled up at him when he popped open the door.

"Move," Megatron ordered her, and the femme only bothered throwing him one dirty look before she slid out from around her cousin and went to take Soundwave's place in the back seat.

Starscream grumbled and twitched indistinctly, frightfully warm when Megatron shifted him into his lap.

"Soundwave?" Megatron murmured in a low voice as the other man slid into the driver's seat beside them. Not wanting to alert Starscream's half-conscious brothers in the back seat that there may be something wrong, he pressed a hand to the young man's forehead to demonstrate his concern.

The intelligence officer frowned and reached over to press the backs of his own fingers to Starscream's cheek before twitching aside the portion of bandage that Johar had peeled loose from his neck that afternoon.

"No swelling or change in color on the wound. He's fine," Soundwave declared.

"He's barely reacting to us," Megatron returned, picking up one of the Seeker's hands and letting it drop limply back into his lap.

"Exhaustion," Soundwave shrugged. "It takes humans quite a while to recover from such extreme blood loss, and Starscream has not exactly been taking it easy the past two days. I'm sure he'll be fine if you just let him sleep. Get some rest yourself while you're at it."

Megatron sighed and leaned back into the seat as they pulled out of the gas station, letting the Seeker's familiar weight settle into him. He only hoped Soundwave was right. The last thing they needed was another hospital trip further delaying their departure of this Primus-forsaken country.

* * *

"So, you're trying to tell me," Director Galloway began, closing his eyes as if this would somehow help him see the picture more clearly. "That you want me to go to my superiors and demand they give us… What was it? Almost four _million_ dollars of resources to prepare for a Decepticon invasion that Optimus Prime has _a strong feeling_ is going to happen?"

On the other end of the conference table,Corporal Marissa Faireobrn resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Just barely. When she'd first heard what Major Lennox had done to the Director on their way to Egypt, she'd had doubts about her commanding officer's judgment, but after sitting through just this one debriefing meeting with the man, she wished she could push him out of a plane herself.

"Sir, it's more than just 'a strong feeling,' okay?" Lennox insisted. "This Matrix thing—we don't really _know_ what it is, but it gives Optimus some sort of connection to the rest of their species. Sort of like a mainframe on a super computer or a key to the back door of the whole Cybertronian wireless network."

"Would that be the same wireless network that told him the Decepticons were going to be in India, then?" Galloway wanted to know. "The one that cost us a couple million dollars to airlift your entire team to a _garbage dump?_ Where you found exactly _nothing?_"

Fists and jaws clenched around the table.

The India debacle had gone down before Marissa had joined the team, but she'd caught the tail end of Galloway and his superiors' displeasure about it nonetheless. They had almost decided not to spare NEST the money they'd need to add another member to their team, and Marissa had had to go with Lennox to argue her case in front of a room full of ten decorated generals who'd all stared at her like she was as alien as the Autobots themselves.

Well, it was better than being dismissed out of hand like the old days, Marissa supposed, but still. Aliens was what it all came back to, wasn't it? As if the military didn't flush tens of billions of dollars down the drain every time they crashed one of their test planes. What right did they have to dispute a corporal's salary except rampant bigotry of one kind and another.

"We suspect, Director," General Morshower was trying to be a voice of reason, "that the Decepticons may have found some new way to disguise their signals. A lot of new folks showed up in Egypt. Some of them with abilities that could potentially have allowed them to escape our notice. We're talking about a species that can resurrect itself from the dead. Is it too far out of the question to think that they can avoid detection at a whim?"

"And that's another thing, General," Galloway sighed, tapping his pen on his notepad in a pointed staccato. "You folks brought us Optimus Prime's corpse a while back, only to drag him off to Egypt _without permission_ and come back to proclaim him magically resurrected? Sir, these are… Well, they're machines. If one of your men had done the same thing with his desktop computer, would you still let him use it for classified work?"

The end of his sentence was almost drowned out by the cacophony of angered shouts that rang up around the table from the NEST representatives. And while Marissa didn't have the same bond with Optimus and the rest of the Autobots as many of her comrades, she could understand their offense. The idea that a soldier, let alone a decorated and well-respected major, wouldn't recognize someone he'd fought beside for over a year was just deplorable.

Marissa spun her hat round in her hands beneath the table while Lennox silenced his team with a single gesture.

"Galloway, I don't know how many times I have to say this before it'll sink into your thick skull—"

"Major," General Morhsower muttered in warning.

"But they are _not just machines!_" Lennox punctuated each word with a blow to the table. "That's Prime out there, sure as I'm breathing! He remembers us—all of us—and all the royal shit—"

"Major!"

"—we've been through while you sat around on your fat ass—"

"William!"

Lennox stopped short and slowly sank back down into his chair, which he'd been rising out of as he spoke. There was a collectively stifled groan of disappointment from the other soldiers around the table.

"What I think the Major is trying to say," General Morshower continued to a stormy-looking Galloway, "is that we have already gone through ample means of verifying Optimus's identity and that the person restored to his frame by Sam Witwicky is, beyond a reasonable doubt, the same one that inhabited it prior to Megatron extinguishing his spark."

"Right. Riiiiiight…" Galloway muttered, shifting through his papers. "Well, it's still tricky to justify _any_ of these costs when you don't have an enemy to fight."

"Why?" Epps spoke up. "Y'all manage to make up reasons to fund the rest of the military every year. Why not toss some dough to the people who are actually doing something for once?"

Galloway looked up from his papers to give the Lieutenant a condescending little smile. "The _rest_ of the military doesn't work in close conjunction with an alien force whose questionable presence in our country was conditional on their support against an opposing alien force in the first place," he pointed out. "And this isn't like the last time when we beat Megatron and the rest of his gang kept popping up all over the world. There's been _no_ Decepticon activity whatsoever for almost two months now. Face it—you won. I'd say it's about time we tested Prime's promise to leave if we ever asked him to."

"The Autobots don't _just_ help us fight Decepticons, Director," Lennox pointed out, like he was trying to explain something complex to a little child. "We have other reasons to want them to stick around."

And now Galloway turned that stupid little smile on Marissa.

"Oh, of course. That's why you brought the girl today, isn't it?" he chuckled. "How's it going, sweetie?"

A ringing silence split the room, and Marissa felt heat that was more than just anger threatening to rise up in her gut. But every single eye was on her.

She shoved it down and forced a sickly sweet smile of her own.

"Better than your dick will be if you ever call me that again, Director," she told him.

Galloway's reaction wasn't quite as satisfying as she'd hoped for, but the bark of laughter that Major Lennox let out made it worth it.

"I thought the military didn't stand for this kind of insubordination," Galloway said stiffly, pushing his glasses up his nose as he turned to General Morshower.

"And I really thought you weren't an idiot, Galloway," Morshower returned.

Which was probably why the meeting concluded with Galloway informing them that if they needed to go to New York so badly, they could drive there on their own time and their own dime.

"If you don't like it, try and get someone who turns into an aircraft carrier next time," he'd told them.

The entire group was still ranting about it when they returned to the Autobots' residential hangar a half-hour later, except Major Lennox, who had been walking at their vanguard in silence. From her position, Marissa couldn't see his face, but she could see the tightly balled fists swinging at his sides.

"It costs more'n my ma's rent to fill Prime's tank!" one of the other corporals despaired.

"I thought your ma finally moved outta the trailer park, Leblanc," Epps remarked.

"Yeah. To Tuscaloosa, sir. Her rent went down $200 a month."

"Well, I know where I'm retiring to next time," Marissa muttered.

"If you're plannin' to die of boredom, maybe," Perez added from behind her.

"Hey, ain't my fault if ya never learned how to party Tuscaloosa style, Cap," Leblanc returned. "We ever get a vacation, I'll show you how it's done."

"As fascinating as a tour of Tuscaloosa, Alabama sounds, Corporal," Lennox finally spoke for the first time since they'd left the conference room, "I'm afraid we're gonna be spending our vacation days in Yankee territory this year."

They came to a pause, partly because they had reached the hangar entrance and had to wait while the major entered his credentials to open it and partly because they were trying to process what he had just said.

"What?" Perez finally broke the silence.

Lennox tapped his clearance card to the door terminal and turned around, a broad grin stretching his features.

"We're going to the big apple, kiddos," he announced as the door started to lift up behind him, releasing a fanfare of engine growls and the clank of metal reverberating in the open space beyond to accompany the declaration.

"Lennox, we ain't got the money," Epps reminded him.

"Come on, guys," Lennox scoffed. "You think we don't have enough fuel in our emergency stores to get a team of Bots up to New York and back? We'll just be—"

His next words were cut off by the roar of an engine and squeal of tires as a bright red Lamborghini skidded to a halt mere feet from the door.

"Watch it, Sideswipe!" Lennox snapped as the Autobot flipped into a transformation sequence inches behind him. "This is a military base, not Tokyo Drift!"

"Sorry, Major!" Sideswipe blurted, systems humming with excitement. "What's the word? Are we going to get the Cons, or no?"

"Yes, yes, we're going. Now scoot so we can get in, please."

Sideswipe let out a whoop, accompanied by a horn blast that left Marissa's heart racing faster than was acceptable, and went cartwheeling off to find his twin, no doubt.

"Just like that?" Epps wanted to know as they followed their commanding officer across the hangar toward the Autobots' own commanding officers clustered in the far corner. "We're just gonna pack up and head off on a road trip to New York?"

"Why not?" Lennox shrugged. "Galloway didn't say we couldn't. Just that he's not paying for it. Attendance is not mandatory by they way, guys. You'll have to use your Christmas vacation time if you come, and I don't want anymore of us sleeping in the dog house at Easter than necessary."

Not that anyone in NEST ever would have said no to anywhere that Lennox asked them to go.

"Wasn't planning on going anywhere anyway, sir," Marissa shrugged. And if she ever had, it would have been in the same direction anyway.

"Not my business, but we can totally egg your parents' house while we're up there if it's that kinda thing," Lennox offered.

"Forget eggs. Let's just drop some Decepticon ass on it," Leblanc chortled.

"It wouldn't be the biggest bomb I've ever dropped on them," Marissa conceded.

"Sweet. Got two on board," Lennox grinned while Epps rolled his eyes. "Go spread the word while I talk with Prime: NEST is doing Christmas in Times Square this year!"


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

Starscream was getting fed up with having to play catch up.

This time, the last thing he could remember _clearly _was being squashed into the front seat of a stolen car with his cousin as they drove away from Patna, but now he seemed to be in a bed. For a moment, Starscream wondered if he had only dreamt the entire encounter with Johar's gang and their departure from the city, but the bed was suspiciously comfortable, and there was a noticeable lack of sticky, sweaty ex-warlord pressed against him. Possibly because of that, his neck hurt far less than he'd grown to expect in the mornings, though the tingling numbness down his left arm was more pronounced. He flexed the fingers experimentally and sighed at their refusal to make a proper fist. Finally, he let his eyes flutter open.

And promptly closed them again.

When he opened them again, the ceiling above him was still all wrong.

It was too high above him, for one thing, and the decorative white and gold molding where it met the dark wood of the wall was possibly the most extravagant bit of interior design Starscream had seen since Vos had fallen. He let his eyes follow the line of molding curiously to the adjoining wall, at which point his confusion and wonder both skyrocketed. The majority of that wall was an ornate window whose heavy, embroidered curtains had been pulled back to allow bright, morning sunlight to stream through.

Starscream sat up, head swimming in a familiar way and so taken with the expansive view of blue sky beyond that he almost didn't notice the luxurious armchairs positioned in front of the window or the man sitting in one of them.

"You're awake," Megatron observed, looking up from the handsome, leather-bound book he'd been reading to give his former SIC a smile as warm and inviting as the halo of sunlight around him.

"Wha..." was all Starscream could manage in reply.

Megatron set his book and a bronze cup he'd been sipping from on a carved wooden table beside his chair before unfolding himself and moving to the edge of the bed—the bed that was at least four times the size of any of the ones he'd slept in before now and covered in sumptuous, intricately-embroidered blankets and pillows—still smiling in that disturbingly genuine manner.

"How do you feel?" the ex-warlord wanted to know, pressing a cool hand to the Seeker's forehead.

Starscream just blinked at his commander's intense, dark eyes, which produced a crease between them.

"Starscream?" His hand shifted down to cup the younger man's cheek. "Say something."

He was opening his mouth to do just that—starting with "Who are you and what did you do with Megatron?"—when the heavy, ornate door of the room burst open and Soundwave's twins came spilling in.

"Soundwave said to tell you—" one of them started, and the other cut him off with:

"Fluffy, no! Bad girl!"

And suddenly something brown, furry, and _alive_ was leaping onto the bed, yapping and panting all the way.

"WHAT THE _FUCK!?_" Starscream shrieked, scrambling for pillows and blankets and whatever else he could find to throw at it.

His fingers had only managed to find purchase on one decorative pillow before squealing in surprise as a pair of massive arms snatched him straight up out of the bed.

"I told you to keep that thing in your own room!" Megatron bellowed as he held his former SIC safely out of reach of the twins' escaped monstrosity. "It is _covered_ in germs!"

"But she was lonely!" Rumble protested, scooping up what Starscream now recognized as that blasted puppy from Primus knew how many days or weeks ago. It had almost doubled in size since the last time he'd seen it.

"It followed us!" the Seeker shrieked, clinging to his commander while simultaneously attempting to kick at the thing. "It's evil! Autobot spy! KILL IT!"

"She is _not!_" Rumble and Frenzy both protested.

"_Go!_" Megatron snarled, and the boys began to retreat with the squirming puppy in hand.

"Oh yeah!" Frenzy stopped in the doorway. "Soundwave said to tell you that breakfast is here."

"We will be there in a moment! Now, get _out!_" Megatron barked, and the door finally snapped shut behind the twins and... _Fluffy_.

Starscream stared suspiciously at the intricately carved wood for a moment, before turning to his commander, who was still holding him, brushing one thumb absently over the exposed skin of his knee, as he too glared at the closed door.

"Megatron," Starscream said, as sweetly as he could manage, and the older man turned to him. "What. The actual fuck. Is going on here?"

* * *

"You overtaxed yourself," was how Megatron put it.

Apparently, Starscream had been delirious with fever for the better part of the past 36 hours, which he was incredibly put out about until he discovered that the majority of what he'd missed during that time had been a 24-hour road trip. Technically speaking, it should only have taken them around 17 hours to drive between Patna and New Delhi, but first Megatron had mistakenly started them off heading South instead of West for several hours, and then Slipstream had insisted on making far more stops for bathroom breaks than should have been humanly necessary, and the twins had kept insisting that they were _starving_ and absolutely _had to stop_ to get something to eat, and all in all Starscream was relieved while not quite being able to believe that he had managed to remain unconscious for most of it.

He did remember a few snippets, like pulling into a rest stop at some point and watching Megatron attempt to chase the twins down and get them back into the car, or the image of endless, green land rolling away on either side of them and a blue, blue sky stretching overhead as far as he could see. There was also at least one hazy recollection he'd rather keep buried of flopping listlessly against his older brother in a dirty latrine…

But he most certainly did not remember the point at which it had become common knowledge to all of them that Soundwave and Slipstream had conspired to smuggle a puppy (now called Fluffy, per the twins' depraved and simplistic imaginations) in the trunk of their car.

("You should demote him," Starscream suggested, unable to figure out why Megatron had let Soundwave _keep_ the rabid animal.

"Who would replace him?" Megatron countered. "With you still not back to full functioning."

It wasn't the reply Starscream wanted, but he was somewhat mollified by the implication that he would once again be Megatron's first choice for lieutenant as soon as he was fully healed, and by the information that Soundwave was now walking around with his right hand swathed in bandages because his precious dog had sunk its teeth into him.)

When they'd finally reached the city, Megatron had insisted they needed to go straight to a hospital and spent almost an hour driving through the city in search of one before their car had run out of gas in the neighborhood of their current hotel. Slipstream had taken one look at the opulent, palace-shaped building (it was even _called_ the Leela _Palace_ Hotel), and declared that this was where they would be staying until their flight to America. Megatron had, according to Thundercracker (who was disgustingly sentimental about seeing Starscream awake and alert again), snorted and told her he'd let her stay in the most expensive suite in the entire hotel if she could convince the staff to give it to her.

She had. And they had more than enough money in the trunk to pay for it, as it turned out.

("I told them I was a rich heiress who'd spent the last two months experiencing the 'real India' with my family and our bodyguard and was ready to be pampered again," Slipstream explained with a toss of her hair, and Megatron gave her a dangerous look while Starscream smirked at him in delight.)

As it turned out, the hotel provided 24/7 on-call doctors for its highest paying guests, so Starscream had been treated in the luxury of their palatial bed the previous evening for dehydration and a mild infection, explaining why Megatron and Thundercracker both kept attacking their comrades with hand sanitizer every few minutes now.

If Starscream thought hard enough on the matter, he could remember a few flashes of all this, blending together with other, more coherent memories or fading into nonsense that he couldn't distinguish between dream or reality. The doctor, for instance, he had assumed was a dream about his time in the hospital in Patna, but now he realized that he could distinctly remember looking up at a pinched, bespectacled face framed by that elegant molding he'd woken up to this morning.

Well, the dog and his continued and embarrassing helplessness aside, at least Slipstream had upheld a sufficient standard of living for them all while he was mentally absent. Starscream couldn't help but stare around at the gilded opulence of their new dwelling as he picked his way through the special meal that the kitchen had sent up for him per that on-call doctor's orders.

They didn't just have multiple rooms, but multiple _suites!_ Three of them.

This one (which Skywarp had referred to as being _Starscream and Megatron's_ and Starscream was doing his best not to think about why that arrangement might have come about) included the bedroom he'd woken up in, a second smaller bedroom, a dining room with a table that could seat several dozen, _two_ living rooms filled with glimmering gold velvet sofas and dark leather chairs, a mini library and study room with a state of the art computer, a full service kitchen, a private gym with exercise equipment that the twins had wasted no time in trying and failing to figure out how to use, and _three_ bathrooms.

Starscream had only had a chance to see two of the bathrooms so far, both of which had been beautiful chambers of marble and brass, but did not include a shower. Supposedly, that was in the bathroom attached to the master bedroom, which he was aching for a chance to explore.

"Don't get too used to it," Thundercracker warned from beside him. "Soundwave says we don't have enough money to keep living like this once we get to America."

"And what would _Soundwave_ know about it?" Starscream scoffed, squinting at his spoon in an effort to determine if it was real silver or not.

"What would _you_ know about it?" his brother returned, sounding amused at his expense. "You don't even know how much money we have."

No, Starscream supposed he didn't, and that was going to have to change. Just as soon as he figured out where Megatron had stashed the stuff.

"I know Soundwave can't stand the idea of anyone enjoying themselves, especially me," he answered instead.

Starscream threw a dirty look in the direction of the man in question, whom he could just see through the doorway to one of the living rooms looking like he'd been made to sit coolly in dark leather chairs. Megatron was sat on one end of the couch adjacent, shoveling curry into his mouth like he was still squatting around a fire pit in the slums eating off tin instead of china with what Starscream suspected was real gold leaf decoration.

Perhaps his commander's choice to eat in the living room wouldn't have rankled quite so much if it hadn't been made so that Megatron and Soundwave could make plans together without him. The low table between the two men was littered with papers and documents, and _Slipstream_ was kneeling on the floor beside it, making a list of some sort, by the looks of it.

"Soundwave would say we didn't have enough money just to spite me," Starscream declared, setting down his spoon. His stomach and throat both needed a moment of respite.

"He would not, Star. Soundwave is way nicer than that," Skywarp reassured from his other side. "Besides, Megatron wouldn't let him."

And Starscream actually laughed out loud at that.

"_Megatron_ wouldn't even bother trying to _hide_ the fact that he was doing it to spite me!" he said, a bitter tinge in his voice.

"But…" Skywarp started, eyes darting between his two older brothers in confusion before falling to his plate. "I kinda thought he liked you now."

Starscream's face burned, but he was saved having to deny such slanderous accusations when Thundercracker made an uncharacteristically derisive noise.

"Megatron doesn't _like_ anyone, Warp," he insisted. "He just has different levels of tolerance."

"Then why is Starscream still sleeping in his bed?" Skywarp wondered, the innocence of the question all the worse for the fact that it wasn't feigned. "There's plenty of room for Star in our room."

"I'm going to see what they're talking about over there," Starscream announced, hastily pushing back his chair and getting to his feet.

"You haven't finished eating yet," Thundercracker frowned.

"I'll be back," Starscream promised him, and took a piece of bread with him in a show of good faith as he headed for the living room.

"Which makes it fortuitous we did not register them with the same last names on their passports," Soundwave was saying as Starscream passed through the doorway.

"Who?" Starscream immediately wanted to know, trying to peer around them at what was laid out on the table.

"You and your brothers," Megatron answered him without pause. He looked up from the table, and while he didn't smile this time (thank Primus for small mercies), he also didn't look at all upset to see Starscream there. "Did you finish your breakfast?"

"I'm in the process," the Seeker informed him, waving his bread.

"Good. Come here."

Starscream eyed the hand extended toward him like it carried a disease. He heard Slipstream snort and threw her a sneer before turning it on Megatron.

"_Why?_" he demanded.

"Because I want to include you in our planning meeting," his commander informed him levelly.

Starscream just gaped back at him, and now Megatron did smile, and it was only a little more than half condescending.

"Unless you don't think you're ready for the stress of responsibility yet," Slipstream put in.

"Slipstream," Soundwave spoke in gentle admonition

"It's a legitimate question," she muttered back.

But Megatron was still just watching him expectantly with his hand out.

Starscream tossed his nose in the air haughtily and threw himself down on the couch beside his commander, ignoring his hand and taking care to leave enough space between them that Megatron couldn't accidentally brush his legs or anything.

"So what did you bozos need my expert opinions on, anyway?" he asked before taking a conservative bite of his bread.

"We are discussing travel arrangements for tomorrow evening," Megatron answered. He made no acknowledgment of the insult, though Slipstream rolled her eyes at him.

"Where are we going tomorrow?" Starscream wanted to know, sitting up to see if he could get a clue from whatever was on the table.

"America, dummy," Slipstream told him. "Where else?"

Something unpleasant clenched in Starscream's stomach that had nothing to do with his bread.

"We're… _tomorrow?_" he hissed.

"Our flight leaves at 9:00 in the evening," Megatron answered. "Soundwave and Slipstream handled the reservations last night."

"That's so soon. Surely we have more preparations left."

"On the contrary. Your discovery of the gang's cash bag in Patna has allowed us to move our plans up by several weeks," Soundwave intoned, shuffling some of the papers in front of him.

"And… and we're flying?"

"Primus, Starscream! You aren't the only Seeker in this group," Slipstream groaned, rolling her eyes. "None of us are any happier about it than you are, but what else are we gonna do? _Walk _to America?"

"Only one in every million commercial human flights experience fatal incidents," Soundwave added.

"I'm not _scared_," Starscream insisted, to himself as much as the others.

"Naturally, I am relieved to hear it," Megatron smirked at him. "I would hate to have to leave you behind."

"I'll just bet you would," Starscream muttered.

"Yes. I would," Megatron repeated, more emphatically this time.

"_Sure._"

His commander gave him a long, hard stare before shaking his head in exasperation.

"Never mind, Starscream," he sighed. "Let's discuss our supply needs, then."

As he continued, Starscream looked up to see Slipstream shaking with barely controlled laughter until Soundwave nudged her not-so-subtly beneath the table. Confusion and frustration boiled up within the Seeker, and suddenly he didn't care about being a part of the command team again; he just didn't want to be anywhere near Megatron and his weird behavior.

"You need my input on _that?_" he scoffed, pushing himself up from the couch. "Really, Megatron, how far you've fallen. Just get me some clothes that don't fit me like a tent for once, and I'm sure you can figure out the rest on your own."

"Where are you going?" his commander wanted to know, a confusion of his own writ in his strong features.

"To finish my breakfast. Or do I need your permission for that?"

Megatron's face darkened slightly.

"Not at all," he said, turning back to the table. "Do whatever you like."

Well.

Starscream just might have to take him at his word. He had a whole hotel to explore, after all.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

"You're supposed to be resting," Skywarp pointed out, and Starscream threw a dirty look over his shoulder at him before returning to his search of his and Megatron's bedroom.

"I've been resting for most of the last two days; I'm fine."

"Yeah, but you rested for more than a week before that in the hospital and you still got sick when you tried to run around and do stuff," his brother reminded him, taking a seat on the end of the massive bed.

Starscream rolled his eyes and didn't take the effort to respond as he wrenched open yet another ornate cupboard door. He hadn't wanted to bring Skywarp along in the first place, but he certainly wasn't under the impression that he'd be allowed to wander the hotel on his own and Skywarp might be annoying but at least he wasn't overbearing. Besides, Thundercracker actually was resting somewhere.

"What are you even looking for?" Skywarp wanted to know.

"Don't worry about it."

"...I promise not to tell."

Starscream turned again to see a hesitantly eager expression pulling at the edges of his brother's round features.

"Money," Starscream finally confessed, and Skywarp's expression immediately fell again.

"You'll get in trouble."

"Only if you tell. There's so much in that bag, no way Megatron will notice if I take a couple hundred."

"They counted it all last night."

Starscream shrugged. "I'll buy you something to eat."

"I'm not hungry," Skywarp muttered, picking at the bed spread.

"Fine. I'll buy you something else then. What do you want?"

His little brother's head jerked up, more eyes round with surprise for a moment, and then a shy grin spread across his face.

"What?" Starscream cringed back from him slightly.

"Nothing. Just… No, nothing. Um…" Skywarp clasped his hands together and kicked his legs against the bed as he thought. "Maybe… Could we go see a movie?"

Starscream rolled his eyes. "Why in the name of Primus would you ever want to do that? You think humans are actually capable of producing entertainment worth sitting through?"

"Your friend Ajit—"

"He was _not_ my friend!"

"Okay, your _minion_, then." Skywarp's turn to roll his eyes, and Starscream balked at this display of personality from his brother. "He always talked about the movies, and they sounded so exciting! And Anoushka said they make movies out of books sometimes. There was one called _Pride and Prejudice_—something called a 'romance'—and she said it's not as good as Indian romances, but maybe it would make more sense because it's European like me, and anyway she liked it. Maybe they have that at the movie theater."

"We are _definitely_ not going to see a _romance!_" Starscream snapped. The last thing he needed was for his brother to gain some means of decoding all the weird behavior between himself and Megatron.

"An action movie, then?" Skywarp tried hopefully.

"If you want to watch a movie, you could always just turn on the television. Besides, I was thinking something more expensive. Movie tickets are pocket change." He didn't actually know how much a movie ticket cost, just that it was low enough that Ajit could get enough to take most of his gang to see one out of most people's wallets.

"Oh." Skywarp's expression faltered, but quickly brightened again. "Knives! Good, sharp knives."

Aha. Now here was something Starscream could get interested in.

"Perfect," he told his little brother. "We'll go find you the best knives that money can buy. There's bound to be a weapons store _somewhere_."

"Oh, no, I was thinking kitchen knives," Skywarp clarified, hopping up off the bed, and Starscream's mood almost did a complete 180 in disappointment before he continued: "Like, they're important for cooking, but they're also probably a lot less suspicious to travel with, you know? Just… just in case something ever happens with, like… I dunno… Autobots, or something."

"I don't think you'll have much luck taking down an Autobot with a kitchen knife," Starscream told him flatly.

"Well… I could slash their tires…" Skywarp mumbled with a shrug.

Starscream felt a sudden, disturbingly Thundercracker-ish urge to pat his brother's shoulder. He reached over and punched it instead, eliciting a gasp from the younger Seeker.

"Don't worry," he told him before Skywarp could start complaining. "We'll find you the deadliest kitchen knives these humans have to offer. Just as soon as we find that money."

"And what money would that be?"

Starscream didn't manage to stop his cursed human body from spasming in surprise as Megatron's voice spoke from the door behind him.

"Sir!" Skywarp squeaked with his own terror. "That's… We're… Earning money! Finding money like… like gathering it—earning it! That's… That's all he meant!"

For Starscream's part, he just wheeled around and glared at his commander with all the haughty disdain that he could muster. Megatron stared back, stupidly handsome features unreadable as he refused to break from his former second's gaze.

"What for?" he wanted to know.

"Starscream is going to buy me knives," Skywarp announced cheerily.

And, for a brief moment, a look of fear crossed the ex-warlord's face, so genuine that Starscream could almost feel it echoed in the pit of his own stomach.

"Absolutely not," Megatron said.

"I don't see how it's for _you_ to say," Starscream scowled, feeling defensive on Skywarp's behalf for once as the eager expression evaporated from his little brother's round face. "If it's _our_ money."

"The money is in the safe in the office, Starscream," Megatron told him. "I'll give you the combination if you want to get some out, and I don't care what you do with it, provided you do _not_ purchase any _knives_."

Starscream blinked rapidly, trying to keep up with all of this. There was no way Megatron was _actually_ going to let him have free access to their funds. No way in _any_ world. Not when… Well.

"So, you can trust me with thousands of dollars, but not a _knife?_" the Seeker scoffed.

"I don't know. Can I, Starscream?" Megatron asked him, his dark gaze still boring deep into Starscream's, searching almost desperately for the unspoken answers there, and the affirmative answer died on Starscream's lips.

This wasn't a conversation he wanted to have in front of Skywarp, and anyway, some lies were too big even for him. So he dropped his eyes to the intricately woven rug at his feet instead, and pulled away when Megatron tried to reach for him.

"Slipstream and I are going out shopping," Megatron announced with a heavy sigh as his hand dropped back to his side. "If you want some spending money for the day, you may come with me now and-"

"No, thank you," Starscream sneered, still staring at the other man's battered sneakers. "I don't need your charity handouts. Skywarp and I are going to see what's on the television."

"But I thought—" Skywarp started, and Starscream grabbed his wrist before he could get any further, making sure to knock a shoulder against his commander's broad arm as he pulled the younger Seeker with him out of the room.

* * *

Megatron certainly hadn't been Slipstream's first choice of shopping companion, but unfortunately Soundwave was too familiar with her shopping habits to agree to accompany her anymore. Well, it could be worse. She could've had to go shopping with the Megatron of two weeks ago, after all. At least now-Megatron had realized that there might be somewhere to keep his head other than up his ass.

Plus, even his company couldn't have ruined the opportunity to charge through New Delhi's premiere upscale shopping mall with an almost unlimited supply of cash.

"America is a rich country," she lectured as she pulled a blood red jacket off the rack and shrugged it on over her blouse. It was just barely too big around her shoulders, which meant it would probably be a perfect fit on Starscream, and he'd never notice it was a woman's cut. She tossed it on the pile. "If we want to fit in, we can't just wear jeans and t-shirts all day every day."

"No one is going to see your underwear, though, Slipstream," Megatron reminded her. "I'm sure you'd do just fine without whatever this is."

He held up an intricate piece of lingerie that she had selected a few departments ago, and Slipstream just smirked at him.

"Oh, that's not for me. It's for Starscream."

Which was a complete lie, but totally worth it to see the shift in expression on his face.

"It is the wrong shape for Starscream," Megatron finally worked out.

"It stretches."

Megatron stared at the concoction of black silk and white lace before carefully placing it back on the pile in his arms, and Slipstream briefly debated giving it up for real to see Starscream's reaction when their commander bid him put it on. But no. She was going to need it.

Slipstream had done a lot of thinking since her first failed attempt at seducing Soundwave and, perhaps more helpfully, taking with the man himself. Yes, he found her attractive. Yes, he was fond of her. No, he did not want to have sex with her, though, because that damned logical brain of his wouldn't shut up for five minutes together.

("What if you get pregnant?" he had reasoned.

"So wear a condom," she'd counterreasoned to no avail.)

Still, Slipstream suspected her greatest mistake the first time had been improvising. This time, she had what she was certain would prove a logic-proof plan for convincing Soundwave to take her to paradise, and step one was to get her commander laid. Preferably with Starscream.

"Don't forget that we are not aiming to purchase our entire wardrobes here," Megatron reminded her as she tugged three more tops from the racks. "That much luggage will be cumbersome. We can buy more clothes in America as we go."

"Yes, yes," the young woman rolled her eyes. Spoilsport. "But trust me, Starscream is going to have one Pit of a time finding clothes that fit him in America if you and Soundwave are any accurate indication of the typical sizes over there, and you know it's just going to upset him."

"More than half of these came from the women's section."

"It was that or the children's section. Which one do you think he'd prefer?" Slipstream snorted. "As long as it doesn't have flowers on it, he probably won't even notice. Oh, look! Scarves! Let's get him a couple."

"_That_ I think he will take as a direct offense." Megatron frowned, struggling to follow the young woman as she flowed between the racks.

"Only if you make it sound like you got it for him because you can't stand seeing that bandage on his neck every day," she told him. "I'll get some too, and then he won't feel so self-conscious."

"I _can't_ stand seeing that bandage on his neck every day," Megatron muttered.

Slipstream rolled her eyes. _Obviously_. None of them could. It was a constant reminder of how close they'd come to losing him. Even Thundercracker had a hard time helping Starscream change his dressing every day, nudging his brother in Soundwave's direction instead whenever he could, and _he_ didn't have Slipstream's guilt of having told Starscream that they all wished he would just go die mere hours before it had happened.

But what Slipstream had that neither Thundercracker nor Megatron did was enough self-respect to get over it and not let Starscream's issues rule her own life.

"What colors does Soundwave like, do you reckon?" she wondered aloud, sifting through the silken scarves.

"...Purple?" Megatron hazarded after a moment.

"That's just _your_ favorite color," Slipstream huffed, pulling out a buttery yellow scarf printed with splashes of red flowers clinging to delicate tree branches. "Perfect."

"I think that Soundwave _will_ know the difference if you hand him a woman's accessory."

"It's not for him to _wear. _It's for him to look at _me_ wearing."

Megatron curled his lip and reached over to snatch the scarf away.

"Hey!" Slipstream failed to recapture it.

"I do not condone your attempts at seducing my second in command," Megatron growled.

"Well _that's_ rich!" the young woman cackled.

"I fail to see your meaning, femme." Megatron balled the scarf up and lobbed it over her head somewhere.

"So, you're allowed to put Starscream in sexy underwear, but I'm not allowed to wear a nice _scarf_ for Soundwave?"

Her commander's gaze fell to the lingerie on top of the pile in his arms, and an uncharacteristic flush crept into his cheeks.

"I had no such intentions!" he hissed. "Starscream likes to look good. I merely thought that wearing something fancy would lift his spirits!"

"Then get him a suit! Where's he gonna go looking good in that other than your bed?"

"_Slipstream!_"

He was trying to sound threateningly furious, but it came out as uncertainly scandalized instead.

"I don't know why you're so opposed to the concept," she muttered, tossing a couple of random, purple scarves into her commander's arms and moving on to the next section—jewelry.

"Because it is revolting!" Megatron snapped, parting the racks as he followed after her like an offended iceberg. "And _you_ are revolting for suggesting such a thing!"

Slipstream hummed, only half-listening as she stared through the top of a glass case, gold necklaces and silver bangles winking back at her from amidst dark, velvety backdrops.

Her commander's continued insistence on avoiding sex was starting to get on her nerves. Slipstream was 90% sure that if Megatron would give in and sleep with her cousin already, then Soundwave's resolve would crumble and he'd stop finding weak excuses to avoid doing the same with her.

Not to mention, if Megatron and Starscream finally broke this stupid sexual tension they'd been nurturing since the slums, then perhaps the rest of their group might finally get a break from the worst of their fighting. Slipstream wasn't foolish enough to imagine that anything would ever stop her superiors' bickering altogether (they enjoyed it too much), but at least after they wound each other up, they could unwind each other again instead of taking it out on everyone else. And they had to be close. There was no way Megatron was going to last long _not_ fucking her cousin after watching him suddenly step back into his own and literally murder those two gangsters in Patna. All they needed was for someone to help chip away at these walls of insecure justifications they'd built around each other.

"So, is Soundwave revolting, too?" Slipstream asked, innocently enough. "I know he's the one who told you about it first."

"Yes. Told me about it," Megatron agreed. "He did _not_ suggest that it would be a good idea to engage in such obscenities with my emotionally unstable and physically unfit second-in-command!"

"Of course he didn't," Slipstream laughed. "Soundwave doesn't _talk_ to Starscream, so he can't be certain that Starscream is interested in it."

"And you are?"

"Positive." She turned away from the jewelry case at last to find Megatron blinking at her like she'd smacked him with a pillowcase full of bricks, and _honestly_. This wasn't the first time they'd had this conversation. She decided to find him a temporary respite. "We may need to go to a store dedicated to jewelry to find what we're looking for. None of these pieces are going for more than 200,000 Rupees. That's not even 3,000 USD."

"I believe I saw one on the first floor of the mall." Megatron latched onto the new topic like a drowning man to a life preserver. "There was also a store selling luggage down there, which I suggest we acquire before collecting any more items."

"Oh, we can leave those things at the front of the store once we've paid and come back for them later. No need to carry them around all day." Slipstream waved his concerns aside. "Humans are all about ease and convenience, you know."

"You could have fooled me."

"Anyway," the young woman continued as she flounced toward the makeup counter, "I don't know why you get so worked up about sex. It's quite nice, and highly sought-after."

"It is a pointless, unnecessary distraction that I do not need," Megatron growled back, looking around to ensure there were no humans in earshot before adding in a lower voice, "And it is extremely unhygienic, particularly when… between men."

Slipstream couldn't not laugh at that.

"It's a valid concern!" Megatron snapped. "The doctor said his immune system is weakened at the moment."

"If that's your biggest concern, just keep a bottle of hand sanitizer by the bed," she suggested, turning to select a shade of foundation. "Come on, Megatron. Just fuck him already. You could do it tonight, even. I'm sure it'll be quite pleasurable for both of you, and—"

She cut off with a gasp when a mountain of clothes came cascading down on top of her head.

"Wha— What was that for!?" the young woman demanded, struggling her way out of a particularly fetching sheer blouse she'd grabbed for herself to turn and glare at him.

Megatron's dark eyes flashed down at her. "If I hear that word come from your mouth with regard to my… to Starscream again, I will scrub your tongue with soap."

Slipstream just gaped at him.

"I am going downstairs to select some luggage. I trust you're capable of paying for these things yourself," Megatron huffed, and then turned to leave without further comment.

Well! Slipstream aimed a rude gesture at his retreating back before stooping to pick up the clothes.

Megatron had a point, though, she had to admit. He definitely didn't want to fuck her cousin; he straight-up wanted to make love to him.

* * *

Human television was every bit as inane and dull as Starscream had expected, not that Skywarp seemed to notice. Or… maybe that was why he liked it? He'd giggled like a delighted child at all of Starscream's snide and derogatory comments about the characters on the screen, for the first hour or so, at least. And then he had managed to find something called The Food Network, and Starscream had lost him. Currently, he was watching a program about humans trying to create something edible from an increasingly ridiculous array of ingredients, his eyes glued to the screen with the sort on intensity Starscream wasn't used to seeing from him outside of battle, and Starscream just didn't get it. Not even the prize money they kept talking about was enough to keep his attention.

He was leaned back against his brother's side, slipping in and out of sleep, when several excited shouts jolted him out of his stupor.

"Skywarp! Skywarp, you gotta come see what we found!" one of Soundwave's twins was shouting as he and his brother pelted across the expanse of living room carpet, each only half-dressed and, Starscream realized when he sat up, dripping wet.

"Ugh!" the Seeker sneered as they drew closer. "Stay off the couch, you little monsters! Where's your creator?"

"He took Fluffy for a walk," Rumble told him dismissively.

"Skywarp, you'll never guess what's on the roof!" Frenzy gushed.

"You've been on the roof?" Skywarp gasped, attention effectively torn away from his television program. Even Starscream leaned forward at that news.

"Yeah, and there's a _pool_ up there!" Frenzy jumped up and down, his hair and clothes flinging drops of water around the room as if to emphasize the point.

"No one gives a fuck about that! How'd you get onto the roof!?" Starscream snapped, his entire body aching at the thought of standing atop the hotel and gazing out over miles and miles of city expanse, closer to the sky than he'd been in weeks.

"We're not taking _you_," Rumble sneered at him. "Only Skywarp."

"You tell me where it is or I'll snap your pathetic little neck, you—"

"Starscream can come, too," Skywarp interrupted, nudging his brother's side.

"But he's _gross_." Rumble wrinkled his nose at the elder Seeker. "And no fun!"

"And Megatron will probably yell at us if we bring him out of the hotel room," Frenzy added.

"No, he won't," Skywarp insisted. "He didn't even yell at Starscream for trying to steal money earlier. I'm telling you guys, Megatron _likes_ Star—"

"He most certainly does not!" Starscream snarled. "And if you say that again, I'm ignoring you until we get to America, Skywarp!"

Skywarp stopped talking, but his mouth hung open in offense, like ignoring him was the worst thing Starscream had ever threatened him with.

"Come on, let's just go, Frenzy," Rumble groaned, tugging on his brother's hand.

"You should still come up and play, Skywarp!" Frenzy allowed himself to be dragged back toward the door. "Without stinky Screamer!"

"It's a public space! You can't keep me out!" Starscream shrieked, surging up to follow after them.

Too quickly, apparently. Before he could take a step, black spots crept in around the edges of his vision and he felt his knees buckle beneath him.

"Star! Are you okay?!" Skywarp gasped, diving to catch him before he could hit the floor.

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" Starscream snarled, struggling out of his brother's grasp and straightening up more carefully. "Just a little bit dizzy. Come on."

"To the roof?" Skywarp kept a tentative hand on his arm as he stood beside him, and Starscream decided against shrugging it off for the time being.

"Where else?"

"_Will_ Megatron get mad at you for leaving the hotel room, do you think?"

"Well," Starscream smirked at his little brother's anxious face. "There's only one way to find out. Now hurry up before T.C. finally wakes up and tries to stop us from having fun."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Thundercracker woke feeling cranky and like something tasting of curried cotton balls was trying to burn its way out through his throat. He groaned and squeezed his eyes shut even tighter as he tried to decide if he needed to make a dash for the bathroom or not, but after a few moments the nausea began to subside. When he finally felt that he was in the clear, he cracked his eyes open and rolled over to find the clock on the nightstand.

It was three thirty in the afternoon.

He'd slept for five hours.

All physical discomfort now little more than an afterthought, Thundercracker forced himself up from the bed, head spinning with panic as much as nausea now, and stumbled for the door.

He'd only meant to doze off for a half hour or so. Why hadn't Skywarp come looking for him when he'd been asleep so long? None of the reasons he could think of brought him any reassurance, especially after he remembered that Skywarp had been with Starscream when he'd last seen them. And Megatron had said he was going out somewhere with Slipstream…

Soundwave would have kept them out of trouble, though, Thundercracker tried to reassure himself as he tore through empty room after empty room of his and Skywarp's suite before sprinting out into the hall that connected it to Megatron's. Wherever his brothers were, they were probably all together doing something inane and harmless like… like… He couldn't think of anything inane or harmless that would have kept Starscream's attention for a full five hours, but surely Soundwave would have—

The heavy wooden surface of the suite's front door interrupted Thundercracker's thoughts as he went to reach for the knob only for it to come swinging outward and collide with his face.

Through the ringing haze of pain that followed, Thundercracker registered Soundwave's apologetic tones and Fluffy's excited yips. A pair of large hands pulled his own away from his face, and he blinked up at the intelligence officer through one watery eye, the other refusing to open for pain.

"The skin is not broken, but I believe you would benefit from the application of ice," Soundwave announced.

"That can wait." Thundercracker grimaced and reclaimed a hand to cradle his injured eye, all the while trying to evade the puppy trying to claw at his bare legs. "Do you know where my brothers are?"

"With Rumble and Frenzy. I was just on my way to collect them." Soundwave held up a piece of paper on which someone had written, 'wE wEnT Too The rooFF wiTh warP and ScrEaMer' in purple marker.

"The roof!?" Images began flashing through Thundercracker's head of his little brothers dancing on the edge of some parapet, forgetting they no longer had wings and thrusters to catch themselves if they fell. It would only take one misstep, and neither of them was especially coordinated at the moment. It would be too easy for Starscream to make it look like an accident if he wanted…

"I'm sure in an establishment such as this, access to the roof would not be allowed were it unsafe." Soundwave's features crinkled into a reassuring smile as if he'd read Thundercracker's thoughts.

"It doesn't _have_ to be unsafe!" Thundercracker started moving toward the elevator, only to realize that he had no idea how to follow where his brothers had gone, and turned to take his anxiety out on Soundwave instead. "Starscream isn't safe _anywhere!_ Why weren't you paying attention to them!? You were too busy with the fucking _dog_, weren't you!?"

He pulled his foot back, intent on aiming a kick at the offending creature, but changed his mind when it looked up at him, brown eyes sparkling enthusiastically and pink tongue lolling out the side of its toothy mouth, and kicked the wall instead.

"Suggestion," Soundwave intoned as Thundercracker hopped on one foot, snarling in pain. "Stay here and acquire ice while I retrieve your brothers."

"No! I'm coming with you!"

"Thundercracker."

The young man stopped at the tone of Soundwave's voice. Not angry or stern, but forceful nonetheless.

"I know you've just had a nap, so my next suggestion is that you go put some ice on your face, get something to eat, and if you still feel unwell—"

"I feel fine!" Thundercracker lied.

"Do you? Because I could almost swear I've been talking to Starscream this whole time, not Thundercracker."

The Seeker looked up sharply from examining his throbbing toes. "I… I'm just worried. I don't have, like, depression or OBD or whatever Starscream has!"

"I believe it's called OCD, and that was not an official diagnosis."

"Whatever. I'm fine."

"Then prove it to me by being rational and walking over to the kitchen to take care of yourself."

Thundercracker hesitated, and Fluffy took advantage of the moment to move over and start licking his toes.

"It is how dogs show affection," Soundwave explained at the look of confusion on the young man's face, and then when this only deepened the confusion: "So far as she is concerned, you are a part of her pack and require her attentions."

"Dogs are weird," Thundercracker concluded, curling his toes away from said attentions.

"Your brothers are most likely fine. Starscream currently lacks the stamina to get up to much, and Skywarp the inclination." Soundwave reached to scoop up his pet. "Go take care of yourself, and I will find them after depositing Fluffy in our suite."

"But—"

"You are wasting time arguing the point."

Thundercracker clenched his jaw and glared at his superior, only to find that he did feel rather like his little brother.

"Fine," the Seeker conceded with a heavy sigh. "But you'll just come back for me right away if they're not up there?"

"Of course." Soundwave was already moving off down the hallway. "Don't just eat sweet things; you'll make yourself feel worse."

Thundercracker didn't much feel like eating anything—his stomach was still churning and clenching unpleasantly—but he supposed it would be best not to make his Starscream impression complete.

* * *

The roof was accessible via one of the floor buttons on their elevator. Soundwave was relieved to discover this as it meant the roof was a place that hotel patrons were allowed and expected to visit. He'd made his reassurances to Thundercracker primarily to calm him down rather than because he himself didn't have his doubts.

Sometime soon, preferably tonight, he would need to have a chat with Thundercracker about stress management. However composed the Seeker had managed to come across for the past couple of months, Soundwave suspected that Starscream's… accident may have pushed him over some kind of edge. Today was only the most recent in a string of progressively exaggerated reactions Soundwave had witnessed from him in the last two weeks.

Perhaps, he reflected as the elevator doors slid open, he would suggest that Thundercracker also come spend some time on the roof. He could instantly see why the space had drawn Skywarp and Starscream's attention.

It was a mostly flat expanse surrounded by a stone parapet, which afforded an unobstructed view of most of the city on all sides. The dome of blue sky above them seemed to stretch almost forever, broken by a few tattered cloud wisps and the contrails of a handful of jets. One side of the roof was a garden full of lush greenery and large, bright blooms, while the other held a pool that seemed at first glance to spill right over the edge of the roof.

After a moment's inspection, though, Soundwave realized that it simply came flush to the edge and had a glass wall to prevent swimmers from toppling over. He also realized that the group of boys rough housing in the water and drawing the wary attention of most of the humans enjoying the space from various lounge chairs and sofas dotted about it happened to be three of the four he was looking for.

It was with sinking stomach that he realized Starscream was not splashing in the pool with Skywarp and the twins. If the Seeker really had gone missing because he, Soundwave, had let his guard down, then Thundercracker's panic of a moment ago would look like a firecracker compared to the nuclear warhead of a fit Megatron was going to throw when he got back.

"Skywarp!" Soundwave called out as he approached the pool. The boy looked up in surprise, and Frenzy took advantage of the moment to leap on him from behind and drag him under the water.

Soundwave waited for the two of them to resurface, coughing and spluttering. "Desist!" he ordered when Skywarp looked like he was considering revenge on Frenzy. There weren't many humans around up here, and those that were were shooting disapproving glances in their direction.

"We haven't left the hotel!" Frenzy whined up at him, guessing correctly that a lecture was forthcoming.

"And we left a note!" Rumble added.

"You did," Soundwave conceded. "But it would seem that your conduct is not in accordance with the expectations of this area, and you are drawing far too much attention to yourselves."

The boys looked around, seeming to just now notice the other hotel guests dotted around the pool.

"Furthermore, none of you know how to swim. Entering a pool without supervision was not the safest choice." It looked like Frenzy was going to contradict this, but Soundwave continued relentlessly. "I want all three of you back downstairs right now and into dry clothes. Lord Megatron will be returning soon, and we will have things to do."

Skywarp started making his best effort to sprint toward the pool ladder, hindered by the water that rose to his waist, and the twins came grumbling and doggy paddling along behind him.

"Skywarp, where is your brother?" Soundwave asked once the Seeker was up the ladder.

"Oh, he's just over there." Skywarp indicated a line of deck chairs set facing the edge of the roof, one of which held a small form with dark hair that Soundwave hadn't noticed before.

The intelligence officer breathed a sigh of relief and sent Skywarp off with the twins before approaching the chairs.

The Seeker was fast asleep, sprawled haphazardly across the chair with his mouth hanging open. There was a cup of some kind of colorful juice on the table next to him, and Soundwave stared at it a moment, unsure whether to be pleased that Starscream had apparently decided to consume something other than water of his own volition or concerned as to how he may have come by it. There was a bar on the other side of the pool, but Starscream had no money so far as Soundwave knew.

As he leaned in to shake the young man awake, the intelligence officer paused, struck suddenly by how different Starscream looked while asleep. Without his trademark sneer or evil cackle, he was just a small human with pale skin, a pointed nose, and a forehead that was ever so slightly too large, as if Starscream's human skull was straining to contain the full extent of his intellect and ego. Perhaps that was why he got headaches so often.

To Soundwave he looked excessively young, only just barely old enough to be a man instead of a boy, and he wondered, not for the first time, what it was that Megatron saw when he looked at him. Their commander possessed sexual attraction for the Seeker, and Soundwave understood how that felt. He may have refused Slipstream's advances, but he still felt something stir inside himself sometimes when her wickedly dainty form pressed against him beneath the blankets, or when he watched her taking command of a situation...

But Slipstream was a woman. An adult, that was—it wasn't Starscream being male that Soundwave didn't understand, but rather that to Soundwave's eyes, he looked like someone who needed nurturing and protection, not... Well, not any of the other things humans did when in intimate relationships. However much of an adult he may be by Cybertronian standards, Soundwave couldn't understand how Megatron saw him that way in his human body, whatever his passport might say.

Not that he couldn't see potential benefits to Starscream and Megatron's relationship shifting in a more... physical direction. Something about the fundamental idea of it just put him off in a way he couldn't put into words.

A sudden peal of laughter broke Soundwave from his ruminations on his fellow officer, and he looked up sharply to see Rumble and Frenzy now chasing Skywarp about the pool deck with a bucket of water. Where they'd found the bucket was anyone's guess, but many of the other hotel patrons were now tittering angrily to one another, and several had the sort of look Soundwave knew all too well was that of a wealthy person preparing to Call the Authorities on a less wealthy one. Interesting to know it looked the same on humans as Cybertronians.

"Starscream?" the intelligence officer called, and then again louder when this produced no response. He didn't want to shake the boy if he didn't have to as physical contact was liable to spook him into a foul mood, and just in time for Megatron to get back no less.

"Skywarp?" he finally settled on, thinking perhaps he could kill two birds with one stone if he distracted the younger Seeker from his game with the twins.

"I'm going!" Skywarp squawked back as he leapt over a decorative shrub. "I am; they just started chasing me!"

"Come wake up your brother," Soundwave requested, and the boy relaxed visibly. Rumble took advantage of the moment to throw the bucket's contents on him in a heavy curtain of water that left the Seeker gasping and giggling in good-natured defeat.

"Stooop!" he squealed when Frenzy made to tackle him. "I gotta go wake up Star!"

"'M already awake!" a sleep-slurred voice croaked in reply, and Soundwave looked down to find Starscream now rubbing sleep from his face. "Nobody can sleep through your stupid racket. Whaddayou want, Soundwave?"

"We need to return to the hotel room. Lord Megatron will be returning shortly as well, and he will have tasks for us."

Starscream frowned up at him, one eye closed against the glaring sun. "Like what?"

"Packing. Planning. Preparing."

"Ugh, you sound like you're making a presentation about one of his three-step plans. You guys do all that stuff. I'm tired." And he rolled over onto his side away from Soundwave.

"Lord Megatron will not be pleased if you aren't present when he returns," Soundwave pointed out.

"He's always angry."

"I did not say he would be angry."

"But he will."

"You want him to be angry?"

"He gets angry no matter what I do, so I might as well enjoy myself."

Soundwave didn't miss the note of bitter frustration in the Seeker's voice at that proclamation and sighed inwardly. He was aware that Starscream wanted a deeper relationship with their leader as much as Megatron wanted it with him, but hadn't realized just how deeply the Seeker's denial about Megatron's current feelings toward him ran.

"Don't you want to see what they bought for you?" he tried instead.

Starscream rolled back over to squint at him for a moment, and then finally started hauling himself upright, wincing and hissing in pain as he went. Soundwave watched his twins now taking turns upending bucketfuls of water on each other.

"I'm sure it's mostly rubbish," the Seeker muttered as he finally straightened up.

"I believe the intention was to purchase clothing and other items that will allow us to pass as relatively well-to-do humans in America."

"Yeah, and you left it to Slipstream and Megatron to decide what that would mean. It's gonna be awful."

But he was already making his way across the roof to the elevators on the far side, prancing along the pool deck with a careful, even gait. Soundwave didn't immediately follow, pausing instead to inspect the glass the Seeker had been drinking out of. It didn't smell or taste like anything he'd had before, but at least Starscream couldn't have gotten ahold of alcohol without an ID.

"Stop messing around and get back inside already!" he heard Starscream snarling, and turned to see him now kicking Frenzy in the back of the knee.

"Ow-uh!" the boy squealed, stumbling forward a bit.

Starscream ignored him and his twin to continue walking, and really he should have known better. Soundwave had barely made it two steps before all three of them plunged into the pool.

* * *

Blessedly, Slipstream had managed to go the rest of the shopping trip without once bringing up the topic of sex, leaving Megatron to shop for himself and his Seeker in relative peace. Until she'd seen what he'd bought Starscream, at least. She complained about it all the way back from the mall, the whole time Megatron was trying to instruct the bellhop to unload their other shopping bags from the taxi and bring them up to their rooms, and clear across the lobby.

"It won't even look good on him!" she argued as they stepped into the elevator. "He's too skinny! He can't pull off something like that!"

"He can pull off anything he wants," Megatron growled, punching the button for the penthouse floor a little harder than necessary. "And anyway, that's not the point. It is simply a more convenient means of transporting our money."

"Bull. Shit. You know as well as I do that the second he touches it, you won't be getting it back unless you pry it out of his cold, dead fingers!"

Megatron snatched the young woman's shirtfront with his free hand and dragged her closer to himself.

"You and I have found an understanding of sorts in the past few weeks, Slipstream," he growled. "But one more comment like that and I would be happy to send every last thing you bought for yourself today back to the store."

It worked far better than any threat of physical violence he could have made on her. The woman's blue eyes narrowed to slits in front of his own and she let out a frustrated hiss.

"Besides," he said, pushing her away from himself again with a cold smile. "If it bothers you so much, why not get Soundwave to buy you one?"

Slipstream's nostrils flared, and she turned away to face the elevator doors with a huff and a flip of her hair. "He might not even like it."

"He will."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because you want it."

Megatron's grin widened as he watched the frustration mounting in the young woman's expression. He'd wait until at least dinner time to tell her he'd gotten something for her, too, he decided.

"T.C.'s gonna be pissed," she sniffed as the elevator doors finally slid open.

"I can't imagine why."

"Not about that." She tossed her hair back yet again and followed Megatron down the hall toward their suite. "About the flights."

Ah, yes. That. They were going to have a lot to talk about tonight. Preferably, Soundwave would be the one to handle this particular conversation. "Well, it's not his decision to make. You yourself said that he wouldn't be able to manage the both of them at once. Not in such a foreign environment."

"Doesn't mean he won't be pissed."

"Perhaps I should have bought him a present," Megatron mused, pausing in front of their door to stroke his freshly-trimmed beard in thought.

Slipstream looked up sharply, and he snorted as he reached for his key card.

"That was a joke."

"Since when do you make jokes?"

"I've always made jokes."

"Well, that explains your entire tenure as Lord High Protector of Cybertron."

Megatron was opening his mouth to reply to that when the suite door popped open and the sound of furious Starscream shrieks welcomed them back.

"Great," Slipstream groaned. "We haven't even stepped across the threshold and I already have a headache."

Megatron rolled his eyes and stepped forward into the entrance hall, making his way for the living room from whence the chaos seemed to be emanating. He stopped dead as soon as he rounded the corner.

Starscream was standing in the middle of the room: completely naked, dripping wet, and shouting about vengeance and bloodshed while fighting off Thundercracker, who was trying to wrap his little brother in a towel. Meanwhile, Skywarp was sat on the couch, watching the whole thing from the depths of his own towel, a slightly worried expression on his face.

"You need to put something on before you freeze!" Thundercracker was trying to argue, advancing once more on the smaller man.

"Shut up, T.C.! The only thing I need to do is squeeze the life out of those two scraplets!" Starscream returned.

None of this properly registered with Megatron, though, because he had found all of his attention quite suddenly absorbed in what he could see of Starscream's body. It wasn't the first time he'd seen the Seeker naked, by any means, but it was the first time in a while—the first time since the both of them had become aware of what it meant to do so—and nothing on Earth could have stopped him from following the path of the water dripping from the Seeker's dark hair as it rolled lazily down his boney back to disappear down the cleft of a narrow little ass.

How could such a filthy part of such a filthy creature be so utterly adorable? Megatron felt one of his hands twitch with the sudden urge to walk over and grab it.

It was around here that Skywarp, as the one with the best view of the doorway, shot up off the couch and said, loudly enough to cut through both his brothers' argument and Megatron's less than virtuous thoughts: "Welcome back, Lord Megatron!"

All at once, Thundercracker went almost as white as the towel he was holding, and Starscream jumped so badly he almost slipped in the growing puddle of water on the floor around him as he whipped around in search of his commander. Megatron caught the briefest glimpse of something small and covered in dark fuzz before Starscream was fleeing the room, the towel Thundercracker had been holding wrapped tightly around himself.

There was a long silence, during which Megatron found his eyes still fixed on the spot where Starscream had been a moment before, and then Slipstream let out a snort of suppressed laughter, which quickly escalated to uncontrollable guffaws.

Megatron swallowed hard. "The, um… The servants will be up with our items shortly." His voice came out as little more than a dry rasp, so he coughed a few times before sweeping across the room in pursuit of his former air commander. "I want everyone dressed and assembled here in the living room within five minutes to sort through it."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Starscream made a beeline for his bedroom, slamming the door behind himself and leaning up against it. His neck throbbed from the exertion, and he had to let himself slide down the door while he cradled it and tried to even out his breathing.

Idiot, idiot Megatron! Had he seen... Well, what did it actually matter if he had seen or not? He'd seen it before, after all.

When the pain finally subsided to its regular dull ache, Starscream lifted his towel slightly and looked down at himself. It wasn't an impressive view. Nothing to what he knew Megatron's clothing hid, and he knew now that such things mattered a lot to human mating practices. Human power politics as a whole, in fact.

Before he could sink any further into despair on the matter, though, the door behind him jolted forward, sending him toppling onto his side with a squeal.

"Starscream?"

Starscream looked up to find Megatron's face peeking through what little space the smaller man's body had allowed him to create between door and doorframe. On instinct, Starscream kicked the door, and Megatron's face disappeared with a cry of offense and pain.

"GO AWAY!" the Seeker screamed at him, looking around frantically for something to put on. There was a plastic bag poking out from beneath the bed and spilling over with clothes. He dove for it.

None of them were his clothes, but he didn't care at the moment.

"Okay, fine! I've got my eyes shut, but I'm still coming in," Megatron growled, and Starscream cursed himself for not locking the door.

But his commander's eyes really were screwed shut as he backed into the room and shut the door behind himself.

"What do you want, pervert?" Starscream hissed, tugging out a t-shirt five sizes too large and pulling it over his head. It was almost enough to hide him on its own, and it reeked of Megatron.

"Why were you running around naked in the first place?" Megatron wanted to know.

"It was those worthless cassettes' fault! If you need someone to yell at, go yell at them!"

"I'm not yelling."

"Yet!"

"Or later."

Starscream laughed as he struggled his way into a pair of sweat pants whose legs he had to roll up four times before they wouldn't drag on the floor.

"Good one. I suppose you're not planning on driving your blade through Prime's spark as soon as you get your body back anymore, either?"

"Are you decent yet?" There was a note of exhaustion in the ex-warlord's voice.

"Yes, but you still can't look." Starscream folded his arms petulantly across his chest. He knew the other man would just start undressing him with his eyes again the second he turned around. "You look at me, and I'll gouge your eyes out in your sleep tonight!"

"Fine. Whatever. I have something to give you."

And that was when Starscream noticed the small, velvet box clutched in his commander's hand. His eyes narrowed.

"Is it food?"

"Why would it—No. Here, just take it!"

Megatron thrust the box out behind himself, and Starscream hesitated a moment before darting forward in two quick bounds to snatch it out of his hand, and then retreating back to the window before his commander might try and grab hold of him.

"What kind of human junk are you foisting off on me now?" he sneered as he turned it over in his hands, looking for any potential booby traps. Knowing Megatron (and Slipstream, for that matter) he wouldn't be surprised if the box was rigged to blow up in his face the second he opened it. Finding it satisfactorily un-tampered-with, he flipped the lid open, preparing himself for disappointment. "Probably something you picked up off the side of the road or—"

He stopped.

And closed the lid with a snap and looked up at Megatron, who was so clearly struggling not to turn around and see his reaction, and then, ever so slowly, he opened it again.

Inside, atop a cushion of blue satin, sat three thick coils of gold set with six deep crimson gemstones each. The Seeker felt his breath rush from him in a sigh somewhere between shock and awe. He reached out one shaking finger and brushed the cold metal, tracing the intricate geometric design worked into it, the smooth surface of the gems…

"You like it?" Megatron asked, tentative.

"It's…" The criticism Starscream had planned to give caught in his throat.

"It's yours," his commander told him. "Until we get to America, at least."

Starscream's head snapped up, glare back in place, and he found that Megatron had finally turned around, despite his warnings. "I should've known."

Megatron gave a heavy sigh. "There are human laws against bringing large amounts of cash across international borders. One way to get around this was purchasing jewelry, something small but expensive, and then reselling it once we get to America."

Starscream snorted and plucked the bracelets from their box to try them on. His slender human wrist had never looked so good as it did now, wreathed in gleaming gold and blood red. He didn't even care that they were a little too large, or surprisingly heavy.

"How much did these cost?" he wanted to know as he held them up to catch the light from the window.

"Over $10,000 US dollars."

The Seeker's breath caught in his throat for a second.

"So don't drop them anywhere," Megatron teased.

Starscream caught his wrist close against his chest with an offended hiss. Of course he wasn't going to _drop_ them! They were _his!_ Megatron could talk about pawning them all he liked, but Starscream was going to make sure they stayed on his wrist as long as he was human. Might even keep them as rings or some other form of decoration when he'd returned to his original body just to forever remind Megatron of this moment of weakness.

"Come and see what else I've bought you," Megatron invited, extending a hand.

Against his better judgment, Starscream stepped forward. "Is any of it as good as this?"

"Hardly. But you may find it worth your time all the same. Slipstream has found you some things to wear that will probably be more comfortable than my old rags."

"You're just trying to grease me up," Starscream accused, stopping a few paces away from the other man.

"Yes."

"Honesty from the lord of the Decepticons? My, my, what have we come to?" He felt his face twist into a smile despite himself.

"Consider it a peace offering. For making you get on a plane tomorrow."

Starscream's stomach clenched and his spirits sank at the reminder.

"Or solid proof of my decision to trust you with responsibility again. Ten thousand dollars is an awful lot of responsibility, after all."

Well. That was marginally better.

"Did anyone else get one?" he had to know.

"Not half so expensive as that, no."

And Starscream felt his body move forward, almost of its own accord, until he could lean his damp head against Megatron's broad chest. The other man stiffened for a moment, and then powerful arms found their place around him, a large nose nuzzling into his hair. He let his commander pull him close, and listened as the heartbeat beneath his ear began to accelerate. For the first time in a long time, he felt… comfortable.

"Why do you smell like chlorine?" Megatron mumbled into the top of his head.

"Because Soundwave's brats pushed me into the pool."

There was a confused pause, and Starscream sighed in exaggerated exasperation.

"Never mind. You wouldn't understand even if I told you."

"Probably not, but I like hearing you talk."

Starscream almost swallowed his own tongue, and Megatron stiffened suddenly, so he was willing to bet that the ex-warlord hadn't intended to let that slip.

"We should join the others," Megatron said, hastily straightening up and releasing his hold on Starscream. "There is much to do and discuss."

He pulled open the door, and then stood stiffly aside to let Starscream exit before him. The Seeker briefly considered refusing to go out there just for the sake of making a fuss, but then realized he wouldn't be able to show off his new accessory if he stayed in their room all night.

* * *

There was one suitcase for each of them, larger than Thundercracker had expected but not quite large enough to suit Slipstream's tastes.

"We'll mostly be traveling by car once we reach America. We need to be able to fit everything we have inside of one along with ourselves," Megatron pointed out, but the young woman continued to grumble about how she would never manage to fit all of her shoes in the allotted space as they sorted through all of the clothes she and Megatron had purchased.

Starscream fell upon his pile of goods with a gleeful gleam in his eye, but only after Skywarp had seen and commented on the ornate bracelets clasped round his wrist.

"Megatron bought them for me," the former Air Commander bragged as his little brother gasped and sighed over the shining metal. "I'm basically carrying half our funds on my arm here. It's a far bigger responsibility than being in charge of a made up air force."

Thundercracker would have rolled his eyes and ignored him if it wasn't so good to see him so genuinely happy.

"They're beautiful, Star," he assured his little brother. "I didn't know Megatron had such a good eye for that kind of thing."

Everything they'd gotten for Starscream was beautiful, Thundercracker couldn't help noticing. Apart from Slipstream's horde, his wardrobe was by far the most intricate with shirts made of soft, flowing materials that draped off him perfectly; pants that clung to him like a second skin with a variety of textures, colors, and embellishments; and everything he might want to complete his looks from jackets to boots. By contrast, what Slipstream dumped on her other cousins were twin piles of basic jeans and long-sleeved t-shirts or button-ups in neutral tones.

Starscream tried on almost everything, disappearing into the dining room with Slipstream countless times to emerge in some new concoction and parade it around the living room until Megatron, who for some reason kept pretending he wasn't paying attention, would look up from packing his own things into his suitcase and make some form of positive comment on the outfit. Then, Starscream would saunter back off to the other room, hiding a wider grin each time.

They went through almost a dozen outfits in this manner before Starscream came teetering out to the living room in a set of white and blue sweats and flopped onto the couch with his arm over his face to declare that he had no further intention of moving that evening, leaving Thundercracker to gather up his things and pack them for him in the next room.

Skywarp asked permission to turn on the television, and soon the sound of overly-dramatic human dialogue drowned out Starscream's overly-dramatic whining about what Megatron was ordering for dinner off the room service menu.

Some time later, Thundercracker leaned over to peer through the open doorway and check on his brothers, only to find that Megatron was now seated on the same couch as Starscream, lounging in the corner of the sofa with the younger man tucked up against him. One of Megatron's hands was stroking through Starscream's hair with a careful, repetitive motion, and, though the shifting light from the television was all that was left in the room, Thundercracker could still see that while Starscream's half-focused gaze was aimed at the screen, his commander's was fixed on him, a gentle smile pulling at the edges of the ex-warlord's mouth. The tiny hum, all that Thundercracker could still feel of his bond with Starscream, was saturated with unmistakable happiness—something he couldn't remember feeling from Starscream in a very, very long time.

"Lord Megatron has been making significant progress, wouldn't you say?"

Thundercracker turned to find Soundwave had entered the room from the other side, back from taking the twins and their dog for an evening walk before settling them into their own suite for the evening.

"At what?" Thundercracker frowned at him.

"With Starscream."

The Seeker shrugged noncommittally and reached for a t-shirt.

"How's your face?" Soundwave asked, kneeling down on the other side of the pile of clothes. Slipstream and Skywarp had also dumped most of their belongings in the dining room before settling into their own places around the television, and Thundercracker had been packing their stuff along with Starscream's, figuring it was unlikely to make it into a suitcase anytime soon otherwise.

"Fine." He tossed the shirt into Skywarp's open suitcase, though he was pretty certain from the size that it was Starscream's. "Just a little bruised."

"You'll want to sort them more carefully," Soundwave said, plucking the shirt back out and placing it in Starscream's instead.

"Why? We're all going to the same place, and Skywarp's hardly going to try and steal Starscream's clothes."

Soundwave didn't answer, electing to fold another shirt with a couple of deft wrist flicks that Thundercracker would have envied if he weren't analyzing.

"We're all going to the same place, Soundwave," he repeated, an odd prickling sensation starting up in his fingers.

"We are," the intelligence officer assured him. "We are all going to New York. Lord Megatron and I have already made hotel reservations using a temporary credit card… We are not all going to arrive there at the same time, though."

Thundercracker suddenly felt very cold. He couldn't breathe. They were going to… They would be separated. It was the only reason they would have waited to tell him; they were going to separate him from Starscream, but they couldn't! Starscream _needed _him! He—

"Thundercracker? Are you listening?"

"No!"

"We have too much money. Even after converting some of it into jewelry, we have too much for one group to bring out of the country without drawing suspicion," Soundwave explained again. "We need to split into at least three groups."

"No, we don't!" Thundercracker hissed, fisting his hands in the pair of jeans he'd been folding as he leaned forward. "And you are _not_ separating me from my family!"

"We're not." Soundwave's voice was still quiet and even. "You'll be traveling with Skywarp and Slipstream."

"And Starscream."

"Starscream will be—"

"And. _Starscream._"

"Thundercracker," Soundwave sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Starscream is not going to handle the flight well. You know that, yes?"

"That's why you can't separate me from him!"

"And what will you do if he panics and runs just before boarding the plane?" Soundwave challenged. "The humans will not wait for you to chase him down, and you wouldn't have the physical strength necessary to get him back to the gate on time. Not without hurting him, at least."

Thundercracker bit his tongue as he recognized the sense in this argument, but still— "Then he goes with you."

"I cannot watch Starscream _and _the twins."

Thundercracker threw the jeans across the room, somewhat anticlimactically but it was all he had at hand at the moment. "I am _not_ giving Megatron unfettered access to my brother for that long!" he snarled, keeping his voice low so as not to alert the man in question to their argument.

"The tickets are already purchased and cannot be changed."

"How do you not see how insane this is!? If Starscream _does_ try to bolt at the gate, Megatron will probably drag him back by his hair, or break his ankles so he can't try it again!"

"Does that look to you like the way someone looks at a person whose ankles he is willing to break?" Soundwave nodded toward where their commander was now giving a low chuckle to something Starscream had whispered up at him.

Thundercracker didn't know _what _the look Megatron was giving his brother looked like. He'd never seen anything like it on the ex-warlord's face, whether in their current forms or while Cybertronian. It was soft and warm and… and almost reverent. And it was true that Megatron had been fantastically gentle with Starscream these past few days.

But that didn't mean things wouldn't change again under the stress of navigating international travel on an alien planet.

"How long would we be apart?" Thundercracker wanted to know.

"Almost two days," Soundwave confessed.

"Two—You want me to spend _two whole days_ not knowing if he's okay!?"

"Not at all." And the intelligence officer reached for a shopping bag beside him that Thundercracker hadn't noticed amidst all the clothes. From it, he selected a small box that he handed to the Seeker. "You will be able to keep in touch with this."

It was a cell phone. Thundercracker was willing to bet that it wasn't especially high tech even by human standards, but still.

"There are communication apps that run off a wireless internet connection rather than mobile data plans, and thus we will be able to keep in touch with each other even while in the air, since the planes have wi-fi."

Most of the explanation made no sense to Thundercracker, but he understood the core of it: Starscream was going to have one of these, too, and no matter where they took him, Thundercracker would be able to get ahold of him. There would never again be any need to run about a building or neighborhood trying to find him when Thundercracker could just call him. It didn't make it okay, but it did make it better.

"What if he hurts himself while they're on the plane? They won't be able to get him to a doctor in time," he posited.

"And how would your presence help in that situation?"

"I'd be there to say goodbye," the Seeker answered, the phone box shaking in his hands.

Soundwave was quiet a while before answering: "Your worry for your brothers is commendable, Thundercracker, and I worry that you are going to cause yourself harm with excessive stress unless you learn to let go of some of those fears from time to time."

Thundercracker's head snapped up and he scowled at the older man. "What do you mean?"

"Who will take care of your brothers if you drive yourself into some kind of mental breakdown?"

"Wha… I'm not going to have a breakdown!"

"Mental disorders like anxiety tend to be genetic for humans. It would be highly unusual for both of your brothers to have one and not you."

"I think I would have noticed by now if I had a mental disorder!"

"Not necessarily. One of the tricks of mental illness is that it can be difficult to notice abnormal patterns in one's own behavior, but what I've noticed, Thundercracker, is that you never relax."

"Because I _can't!_"

"Precisely. Externally, at least, you've been far calmer about this situation than anyone else from the beginning—until we almost lost one of your brothers. Ever since then, you've been even more high strung than Skywarp."

"That's because Skywarp doesn't understand! He thinks that Starscream is fixed just because he's healing physically!"

"Skywarp understands far more than you give him credit for."

"Like what?"

"The point is, everyone's mental state has been steadily improving for the last couple of weeks except yours."

Thundercracker scoffed and set the cell phone aside in favor of snatching up another piece of clothing to fold. "Look, I'm not like… like _Slipstream!_ I can't just _not care_ about my own family and their problems!"

"Slipstream cares a great deal," Soundwave contradicted. "The difference is that she is capable of taking a step back and recognizing that the only effect constantly worrying about all of the negative possibilities will have on the situation is giving her a headache."

"Yes, but sitting back and ignoring that there _are_ an awful lot of terrible possibilities isn't going to help anything, either!"

"I'm not saying you shouldn't take precautions."

"How am I supposed to take precautions without spending time thinking about what I'm taking precautions against? Hm, genius?"

"You might try sharing the burden."

Thundercracker actually laughed at that.

"I fail to see the joke," Soundwave frowned.

"No, no, just… I was pretty sure you were suggesting I let Megatron take care of and worry about Starscream in my place, and the thought of entrusting my brother to the guy who's at least eighty percent responsible for him trying to kill himself two weeks ago is _fucking hilarious._"

"Regardless of Megatron's past actions, the two are fond of one another."

"I'm fond of circuit speeders, but that doesn't mean they're good for me."

"...You take circuit speeders?"

"How else do you think we kept going through the Polyhex Siege? The whole Air Force was higher than their ailerons. It doesn't matter how good the high feels, though, the crash always comes. It's only a matter of time before Megatron hurts him again, and I'm not just gonna let him this time."

"Thundercracker…"

"Am I wrong?"

Soundwave's voice was softer when he spoke next. "I know that you felt Starscream die. I know exactly how that feels—I do—and I think you forget that Megatron _watched_ it."

The Seeker's hands paused halfway through folding a pair of Starscream's socks together.

"He may have had difficulty expressing it in the past, but I know you are not so blind as not to see that Megatron cares a great deal for your brother. Have you considered what it was like for him to hold Starscream in his arms and watch him die? Trust me, Thundercracker—he will not hurt him again."

It took a second for Thundercracker to unstick his tongue from the roof of his mouth to speak next. "How can you be so sure?"

"Because whatever he may like us to think, Lord Megatron is ruled primarily by his fears, and right now his greatest fear is the same as yours."

Thundercracker bit his lip and looked back over his shoulder to where Starscream now seemed to be fast asleep in Megatron's arms, head pillowed on the ex-warlord's generous chest. He looked peaceful.

He looked _safe_.

"I just don't like it," Thundercracker moaned.

"No one's asking you to like it; just to cooperate with it. And Skywarp is just as liable to need your full attention for the trip as Starscream."

"When are they leaving?"

"Their flight is scheduled at eight thirty tomorrow morning, so they will be leaving here around five."

"Does Starscream know?"

"I believe Megatron is intending to rely on his being at least partially asleep until they get to the airport to reduce the amount of time he spends panicking about it."

"He'll panic if he thinks he might die on a plane without saying goodbye to us!"

"He'll be able to call you if he needs to, and vice versa."

Thundercracker took a deep breath. He felt like he was going to throw up, but he could tell that this was the end of the conversation. What could he do, anyway? They'd already bought the tickets, and they _had_ to get to America. If he raised more fuss, then it would just stress out Starscream. Or worse, his brother might actually take Megatron and Soundwave's side on the matter. He could hate the situation all he liked, but the logic was sound.

"Alright." The word tasted like tar in his mouth. "Fine. I won't do anything to get in the way, but Soundwave?"

"Yes?"

"Anything Megatron does to him in those two days, I will do to you tenfold."

The intelligence officer's eyebrows shot up, and for some reason he suddenly looked exceedingly uncomfortable.

"Ah… Of course. That's… quite understandable…"


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

The alarm woke Megatron shortly before Starscream did.

"Shut that thing off!" the Seeker whined, rolling away from Megatron to bury himself in the pillows. "Why the fuck is it even on!? Ugh, it's 4 AM! I'm tired! Fuck you!"

Megatron heaved himself up with a sigh and moved to do as requested, then climbed back into the bed and nestled up to Starscream, hoping he could soothe the boy back to sleep for a bit while he got things ready. He regretted now that he hadn't just had Soundwave come in to wake him up instead of using the alarm.

No sooner had he wrapped himself around his Air Commander, though, than the smaller body began to fall slack against him once more, Starscream's breathing returning to the deep, even cadence of sleep. With a triumphant chuckle, Megatron pressed his lips briefly to the boy's shoulder and carefully disentangled himself from the bed.

If this was going to work, then he needed Starscream to stay asleep as long as possible. The second he woke up all the way, he would realize what was going on and start throwing a fit. It was inevitable, but Megatron was hoping he could delay it until there was no longer any chance of Thundercracker witnessing it. Soundwave had convinced the eldest Seeker to go along with their plans for now, but there was no telling how he'd react if Starscream started crying and begging, neither of which would be beneath the Seeker if he was intentionally trying to manipulate his brother into saving him from the dreaded fate of boarding a human aircraft.

Fortunately, there wasn't a whole lot left to do by way of preparations. Most of the packing they'd finished the night before, leaving only a few last minute tasks.

Megatron gathered up all of Starscream's medications, bandaging supplies, and dietary supplements from the bathroom and sorted out the ones they'd need to take with them on the plane from the ones that they could put in the luggage going into the aircraft's hold. He had his lieutenant's regime almost memorized by now, but found himself checking the guide that Soundwave had made him the previous evening nonetheless. Then, he changed out of his pajamas and threw a couple of last minute items into his own suitcase (one of the hotel's luxurious bathrobes, some towels, and a couple of toiletries whose scents Starscream had remarked on while they were getting ready for bed) before bringing all the luggage out into the living room.

Soundwave was waiting for him in the dining room with two takeout boxes, one of which he pushed into his commander's hands.

"Breakfast," he explained. "I had the kitchens send something for Starscream as well, though I imagine he's unlikely to eat it until you get to the airport."

Megatron grunted an acknowledgment and sat down at the table to start on his.

"The address and other information for the hotel are in your phone, and I have attached placed a booklet with the necessary information in each of your suitcases," Soundwave continued as he took a seat across from the other man. "As Starscream is prone to elevated temperatures of late, I recommend giving him a dose of paracetamol an hour before landing to avoid his registering on the body temperature scanners—"

"The what now?" Megatron demanded through a mouthful of rice.

"Scanners. They will have body temperature scanners when you enter the country so that they can screen for anyone who may be carrying an infectious disease."

"Like malaria?"

"It would be best not to be caught entering the country with both a fever and a suitcase full of anti-malarials, yes." Soundwave's expression quirked with amusement. "Although, we should be able to stop taking them in the United States. Their country has more or less eradicated the parasite."

"That'll be a relief." Megatron hadn't noticed any particular side effects from the drugs as the doctors had warned they might, but it would be a pleasant change not to have to remember them every single day anymore. Now, he could just focus on Starscream's myriad of medications.

"We have still to discuss a plan for if the passports do not work," Soundwave spoke again, and Megatron looked up sharply from his breakfast.

"They will work," he said.

"But if they do not—"

"If they do not, Soundwave, then we will be arrested, the humans will find we do not exist in their systems, and we will most likely be tortured as suspected spies. What plan do you propose to bypass that result?"

The intelligence officer was quiet, his gaze fixed on a spot on the table between them.

"You yourself should avoid capture at least," he said finally.

"No."

"Lord Megatron—"

"No!" the ex-warlord repeated, more firmly. "It is my duty as commander to lead the way!"

"It is your duty as commander to be around to do so." Soundwave's tone stayed even, but there was something hard in his eyes when he lifted them.

"I do not need you to protect me, Soundwave," Megatron growled.

"I had thought that watching your back was my job."

"Not only mine."

"Do you truly believe that Starscream will simply walk away if you are apprehended, my lord?"

Megatron sighed. "I am hoping his selfishness will save both him and all the rest of you one last time. And of all of us… I am the only one who might have some way of proving my identity should I be apprehended."

Soundwave inhaled sharply.

"You do not intend…"

"_If_ I am apprehended, calling on Optimus Prime and finding myself in the Autobots' hands would be preferable to rotting away in a human cell, wouldn't you agree?"

It was the possible end to all of this that he'd been trying not to think about, but he wouldn't be Megatron if he didn't have a plan for every contingency. His plan for this one was not to lose any more of his soldiers, especially Starscream.

"Besides, Starscream has rescued me from far more dire circumstances than imprisonment at my own brother's hands in the past," he mused. "Perhaps he will surprise me once more."

"If you are determined, then."

"I am."

"Then you should eat quickly so that you have time to get Starscream up before you need to leave," Soundwave finished, and Megatron glanced at the clock to see it was now after 4:30.

He heaved a sigh before tucking back into his breakfast.

* * *

When he returned to the bedroom, Megatron found Starscream still curled where he'd left him, the covers rising and falling softly atop his petite form. One of his hands was resting outside the covers, the bracelets Megatron had given him gleaming where their jewels caught the light of the one lamp that was on. The Seeker had refused to remove them before bed the previous evening, despite Megatron's highly reasonable suggestion that he leave them on the nightstand while he slept, and had managed to smack his commander in the face with them several times while he slept.

Megatron rolled his eyes at the little fool before leaning down and gently shaking his shoulder.

"I'm still sleeping," the Seeker groaned, pulling the covers more tightly around himself.

"You can sleep in the cab," Megatron promised. "We have to go."

There was a pause, and then one corner of the blanket peeled back to reveal a single blue eye, narrowed in suspicion.

"Go where?"

"Errands."

"This early in the morning? You're lying. Where are you trying to take me?"

He was starting to sit up now, and Megatron cursed internally at how very awake and alert he looked.

"To scope out the airport," he tried, thinking a half-truth might placate the Seeker better than a full-on lie. "I thought you might feel better if you have a chance to see the place beforehand."

"Who all is coming?" Starscream wanted to know.

"No one. Just you and me."

The Seeker raised a hand to rub at one eye, his jewelry jangling merrily at the motion.

"You're still lying," he accused after a moment. "I can tell. Your mustache twitches."

A war was beginning to roil inside of Megatron between indecision and frustration. On the one hand, they needed to get going. The taxi was already waiting for them downstairs, and he had it on good authority (the human internet) that if they didn't get to the airport at least three hours before their flight, they _would_ miss it. On the other hand, forcing Starscream out of bed was liable to end in a tantrum, and it wouldn't do to be seen dragging the man kicking and screaming through the airport. Security was sure to stop them. The question was whether he was more or less likely to cooperate if he knew the full truth of where they were going.

"Okay, fine," Megatron huffed, finally deciding to go for broke. "You and I are leaving on an earlier flight than the others. We need to leave now to make it."

He braced himself for the histrionics—the screams, the tears, the accusations of betrayal—but they never came. Instead, Starscream fixed him with a curious expression and said:

"Just you and me?"

"That's what I said, isn't it?" Megatron grumbled, thrown off by the even reaction. "We need to split up our money, so we're splitting into three separate groups."

"And you made one of them just the two of us?" Starscream verified.

"Yes?"

"You didn't want to travel with… Oh, I don't know." The Seeker waved his hand casually as if he were searching for a suitable name. "Soundwave?"

"No." Megatron frowned. "Why would I want to… This isn't the point! If we want to get to America and find the Allspark, then we've got a plane to catch!"

A grin slowly stretched its way across Starscream's face, and he began tossing back the covers and shuffling out of the bed.

"Okay, then," he said brightly. "Let's get going."

"What are you doing?" Megatron demanded, eyeing him suspiciously as he started tottering around the room in search of clothes to put on.

"Getting ready to catch a plane?" Starscream replied, as if this should have been obvious. "Where are all my things?"

"Thundercracker packed your things last night. He left out an outfit for you there," Megatron indicated the clothes laid out on the footstool at one of the ornate vanities. "You're seriously okay with this, though? You're not worried about flying anymore?"

Starscream turned back from examining the clothes to give his commander a condescending smile.

"Really, Megatron. Me? Afraid of flying? Of course not. This red jacket is fantastic, by the way. Slipstream does have a good eye every now and then, I suppose."

"Er… right." Megatron's frown deepened as Starscream began _humming_ and stripping out of his pajamas without a single complaint about the other man's presence.

He _had_ to be plotting something—possibly the most sinister thing he had in ages—but if it kept him complacent long enough to get him on the plane, that was all Megatron cared about.

* * *

Although the sky was still dark, the city itself was already vibrant with lights and bustling with traffic. The Decepticon officers' transport was a long, dark car that would have been roomy enough for all eight of their party. Despite this, Starscream chose to sit almost on top of his commander and kept up a stream of what Megatron suspected was nervous chatter for the whole ride to the airport. The older man only half-listened to most of it, preoccupied with trying to figure out the phone Soundwave had given him.

"Megatron!" The Seeker tugged on his arm, trying to draw his commander's attention back to himself.

"_What?_" Megatron snapped as his fingers slid across the keyboard, entering a string of nonsense where he'd been trying to compose a message to Soundwave.

"How long will we have before the rest of them get there?" Starscream repeated his last question.

"Your brothers and Slipstream are scheduled to arrive a day after us, and Soundwave the morning of the next day," Megatron answered absently, trying to delete the unwanted characters but struggling to tap just the delete key. He knew he'd seen humans with hands his size using these phones in the past, but he was beginning to suspect there was some sort of trick he was missing.

"And what are the two of us supposed to do on our own for a whole day?" Starscream wondered.

"There will be much to plan and prepare."

"Like what?"

"Like everything, Starscream!" Megatron finally snapped and threw the phone at the row of seats opposite them. "Blast this human technology! Have they never heard of frame universalization!?"

Starscream gave him a sidelong look. "I imagine not."

"What is the point of making something so important so small and delicate!? Do you realize how much that thing cost us? And you can't even type a simple message on it without stupidly painstaking efforts!"

"Maybe don't chuck it around if it's so small and delicate and valuable?" Starscream snorted, getting up from his seat to retrieve the device. "Honestly, you're such an uncivilized oaf."

The car took a turn just then, and the Seeker was knocked off his feet with a grunt.

"Are you alright?" Megatron started to rise out of his own seat only to smack his head on the ceiling.

He heard Starscream's evil cackle as he fell back into the upholstery with stars popping out in front of his eyes.

"Honestly, I can't take you anywhere," the Seeker commented as he dropped back down beside Megatron, the phone clutched in his slender fingers. "Let's see… swipe to unlock? That doesn't seem very secure…"

"I am not the one who set it up that way," Megatron grumbled.

"Did you think to check the settings and see if you can change it? Where are they… Oh. Here we go."

Megatron squinted through one watering eye as Starscream swiped his way through the phone's workings as if he'd been using human technology his whole life.

"You can set the lock screen to a 4-digit code, a password, or a pattern," he announced after a moment.

"Do a password," Megatron told him.

"You'll never be able to unlock it if you have to enter a 15-character password with those fat fingers of yours," Starscream snorted. "We'll do the code. Any preference?"

Megatron considered for a moment, trying to think of any numerical values he wouldn't have trouble remembering.

"One, two, zero, seven," he said finally.

"Set," Starscream told him. "Now, what were you trying to tell Soundwave? 'Reply when yhgsavmmm'?"

"My hand slipped."

"Sure, whatever. Just tell me what it was and I'll write it for you." He waggled his fingers at his commander with a snide little smirk, bracelets jangling. "I suppose it's not always bad to be small."

"No," Megatron agreed, resisting a sudden urge to scoot closer to him on the seat. "I suppose it's not."

* * *

There were airport employees waiting to take their bags when they pulled up to the curb. They ushered the two Decepticons over to a small kiosk where they checked the confirmation documents that they'd printed the night before with friendly, helpful smiles, and then weighed and tagged all the bags save for the backpack Megatron had stashed Starscream's medications, some spare clothes, and a couple of other essentials in.

"Your flight is leaving from gate E43," a young woman told them in a bright, cheerful voice. "You may proceed now to security."

They stepped through the airport doors, and Megatron instantly put out an arm to tug Starscream closer to himself. It was absolute chaos, almost as bad as any street market. There were throngs of humans rushing in every direction in what little space remained around the many, many queues of humans waiting: at ticket counters, at food stalls, at the desk labeled as the information center. It seemed that everyone was waiting for something, and all of them shouting. Announcements blared overhead in Hindi, English, and other languages that Megatron didn't recognize, and a marquees flashed cool lines of numbers telling the arrivals and departures of hundreds of flights everywhere he looked.

"Don't fragging tell me we have to wait in _that!"_

Megatron pulled his attention away from a large screen playing what seemed to be an instructional video for passing through the security check and found Starscream was jabbing an indignant finger at the security check itself. The line was by far the longest one yet, and Megatron now understood why the internet had recommended arriving a whole three hours early.

"Yes," he answered the Seeker, "and I'll thank you to _behave_ for once while we do so that we don't draw any attention to ourselves."

"Primus, this thing is going to take ages!" the Seeker whined as Megatron began dragging him toward the line. "I'm tired, and I don't feel good. Carry me?"

"No. That would likely count as suspicious."

"I'm injured." Starscream leaned against him to emphasize the point as they took their place at the back of the queue.

"I am not _carrying_ you!" Megatron hissed, shrugging him off.

"It's not suspicious," Starscream huffed indignantly. "Look, _she's_ getting carried."

His commander looked where he was pointing and rolled his eyes.

"_She_ is practically an infant." Not that Starscream didn't bear resemblance to human infants in the amount of attention he needed simply to stay alive sometimes.

Megatron tried to laugh at that thought, but it stung a bit too much. He tried to distract himself instead with beginning to compose another message to Soundwave, and hissed in frustration as he found the letter keys on the phone still far too small for him to navigate.

"You could have at least gotten me a wheelchair," Starscream continued to whine. "That human just got to skip the line because he's too decrepit to walk. That could've been us."

"Starscream."

"What?"

"Shut up and make yourself useful."

Megatron pushed the phone into his hands, and, predictably, Starscream's upper lip curled with amusement.

"What do you need me to write?" he asked.

"I simply need you to type a message to Soundwave telling him that we have arrived safely at the airport and are about to pass through security."

While he tapped out the message, Megatron observed the other humans standing in line with them, many of whom were tapping away furiously on devices of their own as if it was second nature. Some had fingers at least as thick as his own. "Perhaps the key locations are stored in their physical subroutines," the former warlord mused, stroking his beard.

"Humans don't have routines and subroutines, idiot," Starscream muttered before giving the keyboard a stab. "There. Sent."

Megatron snatched the phone back from his hands before the Seeker could get any ideas of opening other apps, ignoring his cries of protest, and squinted at what he'd sent.

:hey soundwave your a big fat loser were at the airport:

Soundwave was already replying.

::Suggestion: do not allow Starscream to compose messages.::

Megatron glanced over at the deviant, now whining about the people standing around them being stinky, and wished that were an option.

* * *

When they'd been standing in line another 10 minutes or so without much significant progress, Megatron finally gave in and flipped the backpack around to his front so that Starscream could climb up onto his back.

He regretted it almost instantly when he found himself with a warm little Seeker wrapped around him, a skinny thigh in each of his hands.

"Much better," Starscream sighed, settling his chin atop the other man's shoulder.

Megatron grunted in response, doing his best not to touch his subordinate's butt as he hoisted him up a little more securely. Starscream shifted, and Megatron felt something between the younger man's legs press into his back.

He stiffened, but Starscream seemed unaffected, tightening his grip on his commander and settling into him further. After a moment, Megatron also began to relax as he realized that this was a chance to enjoy some minor physical intimacy with Starscream that the other man was clearly not objecting to.

"What are we going to do on our own while we wait for the others?" Starscream repeated his earlier question after a moment, his breath tickling the ex-warlord's face when he spoke.

Megatron cleared his throat before answering, trying not to think of what he'd really like to do alone with Starscream for a whole day. "Once we are on the ground, it will be much easier to determine the most appropriate method of transportation to the boy's location as well as any unexpected supplies we may need for the trip. And you will need to see a doctor to have your stitches removed."

Starscream made a noise of disgust. "I never want to see the inside of a human hospital again."

Megatron grunted in agreement, gently squeezing his handfuls of the other man's legs. Of course, this was all assuming their passports actually worked, but Megatron didn't mind that Starscream seemed to have complete faith in him on this matter at least.

* * *

Megatron waited until they were nearly at the front of the queue to slide Starscream down off his back and hand the younger man his passport because he knew that there were several things Starscream was liable to kick up a fuss about if he did it earlier. The look that Starscream gave him when he flicked the booklet open only served to validate the decision; the Seeker knew better than to start an argument about the accuracy of his travel documents within possible earshot of the people who were going to be inspecting them.

Megatron was too preoccupied with the rest of the task at hand to care, though. This was going to be the moment of truth—if their passports didn't clear here, then they were doomed.

The ex-warlord was under no illusions that forging transportation and identification documents would prove any less hefty a crime here than it had been on Cybertron. Megatron glanced over at where his second-in-command was muttering complaints about his passport under his breath and wondered what would happen if both of them were apprehended. Would they torture Starscream when he was so obviously unwell? It wouldn't have stopped him if Starscream were an Autobot spy. How long would it take for him to get his brother's attention through their faint link, and how much longer still for Optimus to find him. Long enough for the humans to do serious damage to Starscream?

"Listen," Megatron found himself blurting, a sudden sense of urgency sweeping through him. "In case we…"

But then Starscream looked up, and Megatron choked on the rest of the words as deep blue eyes met his.

"In case what?" Starscream sneered at him.

What was he doing? What did he even want to say?

"I… wanted to tell you…" he stammered, realizing suddenly that the real problem was that there was so much he knew he would regret not saying if they were separated here that he couldn't choose.

"Next!"

Megatron looked up, blinking in surprise to find that they were somehow now at the front of the line, and one of the human inspectors was waving them forward impatiently.

"That's us." Starscream started to approach the passport inspector.

In a moment of sheer panic, Megatron reached out to catch him by the arm, unsure what he was going to say or do until the stunned Seeker was facing him, when he suddenly knew exactly what he wanted to do—what he'd wanted to do for ages now. He leaned down and pressed his lips to the other man's.

It was the briefest of moments—just a quick smack of Starscream's soft, slightly open mouth against his—but in Megatron's mind, it seemed to last forever. The feel of the Seeker's warm neck and silky hair beneath his hand as he pulled him in, the little gasp of surprise Starscream made as their lips met, and the smell of expensive soap and toothpaste that wafted off of him all burned themselves into Megatron's memory like a brand, in simultaneous parallel and contrast to the last time they'd done this, when Starscream was still fresh from the brink of death.

When he pulled back, the Seeker just blinked at him, eyes wide and mouth still slightly open in astonishment, and Megatron couldn't help a small smirk. He ran a hand over one of the boy's smooth, flushed cheeks.

"I'll tell you the rest later," he said, and then stepped forward to the security check.


End file.
